Tivoli Gardens - Fountains - Copenhagen

Another view of the fountains at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 18mm with VR off, Velbon Sherpa tripod, f/10, 1.3s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Building in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 18mm with VR off, Velbon Sherpa tripod, f/10, 6.0s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

The Fountains in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen.

Another after dark, motion blur, magic/blue hour, long exposure photograph, and yes it looks soooo much better at night! :^)

Take a look at the fountains during the day:

Yeah, that's right, no magic in this one... :^(

Tivoli After Dark

It's a great place to take photos after dark, I highly recommend it!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 18mm, Velbon Sherpa tripod with VR off, f/10, 15.0s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

One more "Why I Like to Shoot After Dark" photograph:

Taken in Tivoli Copenhagen about 40 minutes after sunset. Still lots of blue light left in the sky but it is dark enough to balance nicely with the lights on the building and in the pond.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 18mm with VR off, Velbon Sherpa tripod, f/10, 2.0s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Motion Blur - another good reason to shoot after dark!

Motion blur is a really easy effect to achieve, as long as you have a good tripod and a lot of patience.

You also need a good working knowledge of your cameras settings as the "auto" setting just simply won't get the effect right most of the time.


The simplest is to go to fully manual, default ISO, small aperture (I used f10 for the pic above) and then experiment for the right amount of time for best effect. If the exposure time is too long it will be overexposed and if it is too short it will be underexposed plus there won't be much motion blur. This is what the LCD screen is for so use it.

Do not be afraid to experiment! Keep at it until you get what you are after, this is where the patience part comes in, because sometimes the optimal light, or other conditions, will be gone before you get what you want requiring you to try again another time until you get it right. The more you practice the better you will get at nailing it all down in a shorter time. Or as Gary Player said: "The more I practice the luckier I get!"

A good tripod is a must, you simply cannot do this hand held. I use a Velbon Sherpa 603R carbon fibre tripod and can highly recommend it for quality and price.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 22mm, Velbon Sherpa tripod with VR off, f/10, 13.0s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Why I like to take Photographs at Night!

When I am out taking photos at night I often get asked by passers by why I am "shooting in the dark"! Until I show them the pics on the LCD screen of the camera and then they are sold on the idea. ;-) But I thought it might be a good idea to illustrate the difference between the results of daytime and night-time photography.

The photo at the top of this post was taken in Tivoli (Copenhagen) about an hour after sunset on a sturdy tripod and
with a long exposure time. The result is bright saturated colours and a rather striking image of the Chinese Restaurant. Now compare that with the pic below that was taken during the day from more or less the same spot.

Dull, bland, flat, and totally boring! Just another file waiting to be deleted. But it's what most of the tourists would take home judging by how many of them were taking snaps before the sun went down and how few (almost none) were still taking any after dark had settled in. The few that were taking pics at night all had their flashes firmly on. Yuck! Worst part though were how many of the same folks had big expensive pro gear that they were essentially using as giant point and shoot fashion accessories! Haha! Do I detect a hint of gear envy creeping in? ;^)

Not that I'm against taking photographs during the day, just look around this blog and you will see a LOT that were! Just pointing out that for certain subjects, especially ones with lots of coloured lights, night-time is the right time. Just remember to take the tripod and you are good to go!

"Walking Street", Copenhagen, Denmark.

Thousands of people and not a single smile among them. What gives in Copenhagen?

Taken with the fantastic el-cheapo Nikon Coolpix L21.