This image was taken in Corsica and the lovely village of Agajola. I’ve visited several times and stayed there for a few days while on assignment for Corsican Places photographing the area. It certainly was a great base from which to explore la Balagne. This shot is my favourite from a series I took at different times of the day from just outside my hotel, looking back at the village and the sweeping bay of sand, known as Aregno Plage.
You can read more about the area in my post Algajola and exploring La Balagne (written originally for The Corsica Blog.)
Photography Tip – Nightscapes
Usually, but of course there are always exceptions to the rule, the best time to take a photograph of a view by night is a little after sunset when there is still some light in the sky but it is dark enough for an effective night shot. How long after sunset varies depending how close to the equator you are. If you are some distance away for example in the Mediterranean, it’s about half an hour after sunset when the sky is a lovely deep blue but not black. Nearer the equator, such as in The Gambia, the sun goes down really quickly so it may only be about ten minutes after sunset that you’ll find the sweet spot.
Camera settings
If you have a camera with semi-manual settings, put the camera on a tripod, set it to aperture priority and close the aperture right down. The camera will work out the length of exposure for you. It could be anything from a couple of seconds to about twenty seconds or even longer. To avoid camera shake use a shutter release cable or put your camera on timer, so that you don’t jolt it when you take the picture.
The best time to take a photograph at night
Find the location from where you want to take your photograph, set up your camera on a tripod and wait. You will need a very long exposure and you’ll want to avoid camera shake when you press the shutter. You can either use a shutter release cable or set your camera on timer. There is usually about a ten minute window when the light is just right. If you are looking east that window will be a little earlier then if you are looking west as there will be more light in the sky where the sun has set.
Photography Tip – Movement blur
When photographing a moving object it is usual to use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action and to give a sharp clear image, however, sometimes lovely effects can be created by using a slower shutter speed. Photographs of dancing, for instance, lend themselves to this, as a bit of blurring movement in an otherwise sharp image can create more atmosphere. Moving water can also create lovely images with a slow shutter speed, often used to great effect with seascapes and river shots, where the moving water is blurred to create a misty, almost ethereal image. Here you can see a fairly subtle example of this around the rocks in the foreground.
When using a really long exposure anything moving will be blurry or in extreme cases not show up at all. If someone walks quickly through your shot with a bit of luck they won’t appear in the photo. In the image below the masts of the boats are blurry as they gently bob ni the water.
Photographing light trails at night
Any cars driving past when you are using a long exposure at night will form interesting light trails as in the image below in London
Join my 'Behind the Scenes' newsletter
Delivered monthly to your inbox with all my behind the scenes news, latest posts and giveaways exclusive to my subscribers.
Travel Planning Resources
Please note that most of the following links are affiliate links which means that if you click on the link, I may be paid a small commission. You can find out more about affiliate links in my Disclaimer.
Travel Insurance
I never travel without insurance. If something unexpected goes wrong the costs implications are just too high to take the risk. World Nomads provides travel insurance to travellers from over 130 countries. They're the perfect choice for long term travellers or single trip insurance.
Travel clothes for women
Check out my guide to all my favourite travel clothes for women.
Book your hotel or package holiday
TripAdvisor is my preferred hotel search engine. They compare all the top sites to find you the best deal. I also use Airbnb ($31 discount) for booking rooms/apartments.
Book your flight
Skyscanneris my preferred flight search engine. I'd recommend them for finding the best deals on flights.
Rent a car
Discover Carsis a great site for comparing car hire prices to help you find the best deal. They search both local and international rental companies.
Book an experience
When I’m travelling, especially to a new city, I use Viator and Get Your Guide to book tours and excursions. You can't beat a good food tour to introduce you to a new city!
Don’t forget your travel adaptor
Worldwide travel adaptors are perfect no matter where you are travelling from or to. Buy this one from the US or this one from the UK
Thank you for sharing this beautiful place and thank you for visiting my blog.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Thank you for visiting mine. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for that very helpful tip on right timing. Taking photos at night is most challenging for me and I tend to avoid it. Guess I’ll start with landscapes/urbanscapes and fiddle with the settings first. 🙂 Thanks again, Kat!
If you have a digital SLR it’s easy to set it to aperture priority and let it work out the right length of exposure. You will need a tripod though. For this shot I had the aperture set very small at f22 so that I’d get as much depth of field as possible and a 10 second exposure, hence the blurry sea in the foreground which I rather like. Hope you enjoy trying it out. 😀
Absolutely beautiful, Kat!
Thank you! 😀
It’s a lovely shot. There I finally got to say it. Every time i reach this point in my readers blogs I get interrupted. Shame I don’t have anything more intelligent to say than “wish I had the know how to take photos like this”. Thanks Kat.
Thanks Jo. I’m sure you could easily take shots like this if you had the right equipment – what camera do you use? Enjoyed your latest post by the way http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/six-word-saturday-18/
Just a Canon digital. I don’t have much patience for fiddling about but when I look at the results I sometimes wish I had. Just off to read about your grandma.
Well Canon’s a really good make but I do know what you mean. 🙂
Now you’re responsible for adding another destination to my wish list! Lovely shot and good tips too – thank you.
Thanks Suzanne and you’ll have crossed Italy off soon so you can pop Corsica in it’s place! 🙂
So close, yet so far! On a beautiful clear day we can see southern Corsica. I’m sure there was still a snow capped mountain when we drove around yesterday! 🙂
Oh how I wish I was on either island right now!! 😀
I have never been but would love to one day! It’s really only a few hour ferry ride! Any summer travel plans for you this year?
Paris in a few weeks for the weekend and a few days in Italy in July. Want to see more of England this year too – always been to busy going elsewhere to get to know my own country!
What a beautiful place! Neat shot Kat! Love the angle
Thanks Madhu. Algajola is another lovely place in Corsica!