Photographing River Street at Night

The other night my photo friend Megan and I went down to River Street here in Savannah to do some night photography. I took a break from shooting all HDR to play around with some long exposure photography. One of the great things that can happen with long exposure is that people will not appear in your photo…if the exposure is long enough and they don’t stand in the same place for too long.

Making People Disappear

While this photo was being made about 40 people walked in front of the camera…but none of them showed up. How is this possible?! Well, when you are photographing at night  your shutter is left open for a long period of time to collect all of the light the camera needs to take the photo. So, when people walk in front of the camera, unless they stay in one spot they do not bounce enough light back to the camera for them to be picked up. Hence, they don’t even appear.

To make this technique even more effective use the lowest ISO and smallest aperture you can. I photograph River Street Sweets in Savannah at ISO 100 and f22. The shutter was open for 20 seconds.

A few weeks back I went out to photograph the sunrise in Savannah Georgia. Well, the sun did come up, but I didn’t photograph it. It was behind enough clouds to ruin my morning. Damn clouds…why are you never around when I need you?

If you are looking for a great sunrise photograph in Savannah Georgia, head over the Talmadge Bridge to Hutchinson Island. From this angle you will be able to photograph the sunrise coming up over Savannah…some of the year. Despite popular belief..or just ignorance, the sun does not rise from the same direction year-round. It changes every day and throughout the course of a year, the degree at which the sun comes up can change greatly! Check it out, go get your science on…

Anyways, I didn’t get a great photograph of the actual sunrise, but I was able to grab some cool photographs none-the-less. This photograph was taken from the same location as this photograph of River Street at sunset.

Photographing River Street at Dusk

River Street is a popular place here in Savannah. Its cobblestone streets, historic buildings, restaurants and shops keep people filing into the streets most hours of the day. It is a fun place to spend a few hours taking pictures. Night-time, especially, is a great time to head down to River Street with your camera. Make sure you have a tripod and you are sure to get some great photographs.

If you want a different perspective of River Street, especially at dusk and dawn, head over to Hutchinson Island..the island in the middle of the Savannah River. From there you can take in the whole length of River Street and get some great photographs of the Savannah skyline. One of these days I am going to sneak into the hotel over there, head to an upper floor and try to get a photo of Savannah from up high. Will it work? Who knows, but it is worth a shot!

Photographing Factor’s Walk in Savannah

One of the coolest areas to photograph in Savannah in the River Street and Factors Walk area, along the Savannah River. In this area you will find many old building, tourists and cool alley ways. This is what I call the grungy side of Savannah. And it is a blast to photograph! Everything is dark and dingy. It is great. I really want to start using this area a lot for my 2012 engagement sessions. I think it would be a cool location.

Getting down to River Street from Bay Street is a pretty simple task. There are sets of stairs along the Factors Walk area leading down to River Street. You may remember this photograph I posted a few weeks back on the stairs leading down to River Street. These are just another set of stairs. I liked this composition because it is mostly balanced. It is pleasing to the eye, my eye anyways.

ye anyways..

Photographing along River Street in Savannah

River Street is a great place for photographers in Savannah. It is a target rich environment if you keep your eyes open. It is no wonder I run into many other photographers, or at least people with a camera, on River Street.

Along River Street is a hotel called The Bohemian. It is a cool hip joint. If you go inside you will see that the inside of this hotel is decorated very nicely as well. I spent time photographing the hotel a few weeks back with my bud Scott. You may remember this photograph of the Rooftop Bar at the Bohemian. On River Street, they have a few tables set up for people wanting to sit and have a cup of coffee of a bite to eat. As Scott was photographing the World War II Memorial I decided to grab a few photos of these fine people. Not too shabby. I almost introduced myself to the girl sitting alone but chickened out. Girl sitting alone, feel free to contact me if you see this photo…lol…