The Twilight Zone - photographing twilights

Kerry Drager

A veteran landscape photographer once told me that he could look at a picture of a twilight scene and could almost always say whether it was made at dawn or at dusk. We were in a park visitors center at the time, and he pointed to a postcard depicting an ethereal alpine-lake scene. "I'11 bet that was taken right after sunset," he said.

"How do you know it wasn't just before sunrise?" I asked.

His answer had nothing to do with the quality of the light (I thought it could be either morning or evening), the caption on the back of the card (it didn't specify), or whether he had ever visited that particular location (he hadn't).

"Because," he replied, "most photographers hate to get up early."

Well, I hate to rise early, too, but sometimes the process of capturing dramatic images demands a few sacrifices. That certainly applies to shooting at twilight - those otherworldly intervals between daylight and darkness. For photographers willing to adjust their eating and sleeping habits, first and last light can be the most consistently dynamic times for picture-taking.

Sometimes called the "magic hour," twilight usually refers to the half hour or so before sunrise and the half hour after sunset. Twilight involves landscapes of soft light and pastel colors, cityscapes of dramatic tones and multiple colors, and skies of a deep blue, lavender or purple. Even an overcast sky might take on a subtle, yet surreal, cast during twilight.

The possible subjects are endless. For example, at Death Valley National Park, I composed an eerie scene - desolate desert salt flats backed by a royal blue sky. Near my home, I shot a brilliantly lit pyramid-shaped building whose colors were reflected in the adjacent river. I've also put twilight's attributes to work while photographing the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. From high in the nearby hills of Matin County, the scene is spectacular at any time of day, but it's downright dazzling at dusk, when it's just dark enough for the city lights and bridge towers to shine brightly, but the sky has not yet turned black.

On city streets, things often look better at twilight than in the daytime, because dark areas obscure parked cars, unsightly trash containers and blank pavement. Photographing movement can be exciting too, due to the slow exposures required by the low light. With traffic and carnival-fide scenes, for instance, the lights in the evening show up as colorful streaks. With coastal waves, dawn's bluish tint helps create a soft and sensuous surf.

Planning and Preparation

Since eye-catching light is fleeting, however, capturing it with your camera demands advance planning. During midday, for instance, I'll look for potential shooting locales to return to that evening or early the next morning. These scouting sessions involve a form of previsualization -- imagining what a scene might look like in the completely different light of sunrise or sunset.

It's easier to prepare for a late shoot than a dawn session, by the way, because you can set up in daylight and then track the sun's progress. Morning, though, means arriving soon enough to check your surroundings and pick what you think will be the best spot. Plan to stumble around in dim light (don't forget a flashlight), expect things to be chilly (take your jacket), and if you haven't eaten already, anticipate getting hungry (pack a snack). If you're photographing the landscaped grounds of a resort area, expect to hear the frightening (at least for photographers who have their gear spread out around them) spattering and sputtering of the automatic sprinkler system cranking up. The payoff for all this madness? Early-morning freshness, beautiful light and captivating colors.

Although preparatory work diminishes the need for luck, sometimes your groundwork can fail to prepare you for twilight surprises. For example, you may have pre-selected an eye-catching monument that everyone says glows in the evening, but you're there and ... no lights. With darkness approaching, this is no time to scurry about, hunting for a new scene. It's best to have a secondary composition in mind, just a few steps away and ready in a pinch.

Exposure Considerations

Light levels and, thus, exposure readings vary wildly through the twilight zone - from the edge of daylight to the edge of darkness. Many landscapes and seascapes pose few exposure problems, due to twilight's often soft and even lighting conditions, but scenes involving a mixture of artificial and natural light are another matter. Cityscapes are invariably high-contrast scenes splotched with light and shadow areas, which can trip up even the most sophisticated metering systems. A clear understanding of exposure, combined with a good knowledge of how your own camera or light meter operates, will help you record twilight scenes the way you want them recorded. In general, that means making sure bright brights or dark darks don't influence your exposure reading (although an overall average of extremes sometimes turns out fine).

Long exposures, incidentally, can cause underexposure and shifts in colors - what's known as reciprocity failure. Different films react differently, but they may require additional light (1/3 to 1 stop or more, depending on the film and length of exposure) to offset the reciprocity effect. According to manufacturer recommendations, most slide and print films can tolerate exposures down to 1 second, many to 10 seconds, without exposure adjustment or color-compensating filters. If you want all the details, check your particular film's specifications (this information either comes with the film itself or is available from the manufacturer). For myself, I rarely worry too much about the reciprocity issue at twilight, since my twilight exposures rarely extend beyond 10 or 15 seconds; most are in the 1-10 second range.

Regarding color and reciprocity, I never use a compensating filter in twilight shooting; if the colors are slightly off, who's to know? And assuming you like the results, who cares? As for exposure, I use bracketing for insurance when using slide film, which is less forgiving of exposure errors than print film and digital applications. After shooting one image at the exposure settings I think are correct, I then make identical shots both over and under that reading. Generally, 1 full stop each way suffices: in 2 half-stop increments in each direction (for a total of four extra exposures). With extended twilight exposures, which could demand extra light due to the reciprocity factor, I'll tend to bracket mostly on the side of overexposure.

Winning any tricky exposure battle takes technical know-how, evaluation skills and just plain experience. But when the light is interesting and the colors are vivid, don't miss the moment because you were messing with your camera's metering modes. Here's my "rule" when conditions get tough and time gets tight: Shoot the scene the best and quickest way you can. Afterward, if the subject and light still look good, you can slow down and properly analyze things.

Film and Tripods

Low light doesn't always have to call for super-fast film. In fact, since I always use a tripod anyway, I'll proceed with slow-speed film so I can take advantage of its superior color and image quality. (At this writing, my 35mm slide film of choice is ISO-50 Fujichrome Velvia; if I need more speed, I choose Ektachrome E100VS or Fujichrome Provia 100F.)

Even with a tripod, however, it's still possible to jiggle the camera inadvertently during the act of tripping the shutter. To lessen this, I use the tripod's companion accessory -- PSA the cable release - which lets you keep your hands off the camera while making the exposure. I consider the cable release an essential accessory and always carry a spare.

Some SLR cameras have a lock-up mode that reduces the possibility of internal vibration, and a resultant loss of sharpness, when the reflex mirror flips up during slower exposures. If your camera lacks this feature, you can also use the self-timer, since most timers automatically lock up the mirror as soon as they're activated. Use of the timer, of course, assumes your subject doesn't require a decisive moment at which to snap the shutter.

During any twilight adventure, remember that a scene's colors and moods continually shift This is not the time for "drive-by" photography (arriving at a designated overlook, pulling out the camera, firing a quick shot and moving on to the next subject). Twilight is the time for planning, preparing, looking, analyzing, shooting ... and then shooting some more. The drama of dawn and dusk photography makes getting up early and staying out late worth the effort. Long after you've forgotten about that warmed-over meal or annoying alarm clock, you'll have wonderful prime-time memories recorded in pictures.

PSA member Kerry Drager is a free-lance photographer and writer from Wilton, California (near Sacramento). This article is adapted from his new book, "Scenic Photography 101: A Crash Course in Shooting Better Pictures Outdoors," (Amphoto Books, N.Y.; $24.95 list), available in bookstore and camera shops; through the Internet (i.e. amazon.com, bn.com and borders.com); and direct from the publisher at (800) 278-8477.

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