Tag Archives: cambridge

The Best of 2010 – Light Trails


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As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my  most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.

I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and  (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.

#4 MOST MEMORABLE LIGHT TRAILS

It’s no secret that successful photographs are the products of perfect light and perfect timing. Capturing great light trails definitely needs perfect timing, and obviously, it helps to be in a location with a good flow of traffic, but not necessarily. Sometimes, all it takes is one bus to come at the right time. But there are other factors to a successful light trail shot other than perfect time – and those are – lots of patience and being on the safe side of the road.

My Top Ten Most Memorable Light Trails of 2010:

VALENCIA, SPAIN - Torres de Serranos. The flow of traffic was not ideal on this night so I had to wait quite a bit; in the meantime, the light in the sky was changing fast. I knew that buses, instead of cars, would complete my vision here, and fortunately 2 buses came to a halt just when the last bit of blue hour light was fading away.

[...Click for the rest of my Top Ten Light Trails...]


Cambridge in the Dark


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Where during the day, light is not usually a problem in taking photos, at night time, LIGHT – be it ambient or artificial, is a big factor in capturing successful images.  In my case where 90% of time I shoot during twilight, and shoot mostly cityscapes, much of my photography depends on the last remaining light of the day plus sufficient artificial lights in my surroundings. In large urban and industrialized cities, that’s not usually a problem, because there is enough light and even light pollution coming from high-rises and office buildings, and even from popular tourist landmarks. In smaller and more laid-back cities where the city center and businesses close down early, and there are no well-lit buildings to speak of at night, producing a usable image is a challenge.

The historic city of Cambridge, being a university town, has most of its famous landmarks – including beautiful churches and bridges – contained within the school campuses. Although its prestigious colleges are open to tourists for most of the day, they still close down at sundown, or sometimes even earlier.

It’s no wonder that there are not very many images of Cambridge at night, and only maybe a handful of twilight images, if at all. Inspite of that, I still wanted to give it a try, and have even tried a couple of times in the past months only to retreat before twilight because I was not convinced with the light. Knowing that I have to do this sooner or later, this time I made sure I stuck around long enough to see what I can come up with in this sleepy town.

Punts are a popular way of seeing the sights in Cambridge, while winding down the river Cam. These punts can be found by Magdalene bridge at the Quayside. Magdalene College can be seen across the river. 30 sec @ F/16, ISO 100.

The Quayside is one of the few areas lit at night, but even this place is still quite dark after sundown, so I made sure I captured it early into twilight where there's still enough light in the sky. The long exposure also helped in "brightening up" the scene. 20 seconds @ F/16. ISO 100, EV +.33.

The Round Church or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even with moonlight (though partially covered with clouds), this area was very dark at blue hour. This just shows you what long exposure and some EV adjustment can do to save the day. 30 sec @ F/11, ISO 100, +1 EV.

Two of my favorite shots of the night are of the red phone box I found on Bridge Street. There were quite a few of these on this road, but I chose this one because it was the only one with the TELEPHONE light on. 15 sec @ F/11, ISO 100.

Same phone box as above but facing the opposite side of the street. The buses moved really slow but in a steady flow, which worked to my advantage as it gave me a smooth trail. The bright trails worked as an additional and much-needed light source. Part of St. John's College, bathed in the dark, can be seen across the street. 13 sec @ F/9, ISO 100.