Shooting in a busy public space at night brings a unique set of challenges. Crowds, moving traffic, mixed lighting, and time constraints all make it difficult to get a clean, well-composed image. Add in a model, reflections, and a three-minute window to capture the perfect shot, and the difficulty level skyrockets.
Coming to you from Peter Evans, this fantastic video walks through the process of capturing a striking nighttime image at Bordeaux’s famous Miroir d’eau. Evans had to balance multiple factors—getting the model and background in sharp focus, removing distractions, and working against the clock before the city’s lights shut off. His solution involved using a 10-second exposure to blur or eliminate moving pedestrians and vehicles. To keep everything sharp from foreground to background, he shot at f/16, ensuring deep depth of field. But mixed lighting posed another problem. The golden incandescent light on the buildings didn’t match the cooler tones of his flash, so he gelled his speedlights with orange filters to create a consistent color temperature.
Another key challenge was securing the perfect shooting position. The best vantage point for symmetry was a highly contested spot, often packed with other people trying to get their own shots. Evans arrived hours early, slowly working his way into position. He used tape and signs to hold his place while still allowing other photographers to shoot temporarily from the location. Planning was crucial—he had a limited number of opportunities to get the shot, with only three minutes of perfect mirror conditions every 15-minute cycle. Any mistake meant waiting for another window.
One unexpected hurdle was the color of the model’s dress. The concept required a gold gown, but Evans only had access to white, black, and patterned options. His solution was to shoot with the white dress and change the color in post-processing using Photoshop’s color replacement tool. It was a small but necessary adjustment to achieve the final vision. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Evans.
If you would like to continue learning about the art of portraiture, be sure to check out our range of tutorials on the subject in the Fstoppers store.
