Shoot at Twilight: How to Turn a Boring Scene into a Gorgeous Photograph

Ugly black nets in the trees… cars parked all along the road… boring overcast sky…
It wasn’t the best option for a daylight shoot, but we couldn’t wait to go back at twilight.
Bonnie, here, coming to you from a cute little town called Leiden, in The Netherlands. Professional photographer Efraín Padró and I are gearing up for the first day of our Holland Photography Expedition, with nine of your fellow readers.
We just found the perfect spot for our twilight shoot. During the day, this particular canal is pretty boring. It’s also lined with cars, and the trees on the left have ugly black nets over them.
Here’s what it looks like:

But we noticed a few things that made us want to come back for twilight:
** 1. The canal is lined with lamps. If those light up nicely, they’ll add interesting reflections in the water.
** 2. Even though there are cars along the sides and ugly black nets in the trees, those won’t show up after dark.
** 3. It’s cloudy, which makes this shot look pretty “blah” during the day. But just after dark, that won’t matter. With a little luck, the sky will look blue and beautiful against the lamp light.
Here’s the very same canal, just after dark:

Photographing at twilight is great when you’re traveling somewhere and you want to hide something ugly or the sky is plain white. Get your tripod and try it out for yourself.
Things to look for when you scout out a twilight spot during the day:
** Lamps along the street…
** Buildings that light up at night…
** Reflections in water…
** Things that might “hide” after dark, such as cars, construction, nets on trees… etc.
Keep in mind that twilight is a little tricky. When the sun first goes down, the sky won’t immediately turn blue. Start shooting and watch the sky. Usually it happens a few minutes after sundown, and stays blue for 20-40 minutes more. That’s the “sweet spot.”
Can’t wait for our first day tomorrow! We’re headed to the Keukenhof Gardens, where we’ll find more varieties of tulips than we can count.
While we’re at it, I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for more tips to send you.
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