How to shoot at dusk

Dusk

Often, the key to shooting at night is really to shoot at dusk. For this photograph, shooting at dusk yielded both a magical blue sky and a lovely glow from the candles nestled among the marigolds.

I love dusk more than any other time of day for shooting. It’s that dreamy in-between time that is neither day nor night, that magic moment suspended in time. Dusk is the most romantic time of day. By shooting at dusk, you can preserve that moment of romance.

The length of the dusk can vary according to location and season—long dusks during summer in Scandinavia, short dusks at the Equator. The key to shooting at dusk is to set up early, because you never know exactly when the magic time will be. It could be just as it’s starting to get dark, when there’s still a glow in the sky from the setting sun. Or it could be well after it seems too dark, when your LCD screen may reveal that the sky is still a deep royal blue. —Catherine Karnow

Photo Tip: When shooting at dusk, set up ahead of time and shoot until it’s actually night—you never know when the best time will be for the situation you’re capturing.