Over the past couple of years, we have started experimenting with night photography! There are so many types of night photography; city, landscape, star trails, milky way, lightning and more. It uses a different part of your brain, to focus on where the light currently is, and where it will be over a longer exposure. Itโs kind of like painting with light!
As iPhones become even more advanced for photography with built in HDR, portrait modes, and time-lapses, night photography is still, for the most part, only possible with a true DSLR or mirrorless camera.
We absolutely LOVE our Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II mirrorless, micro four third, cameras. The Olympus micro four third mirrorless cameras have some of the smallest pro lenses which makes them great for on-the-go photography, while still being incredibly powerful. Some people argue that micro four third cameras, with slightly smaller sensors than full frame, are not as capable at night photography. However, we have found our Olympus OM-D E-M1 cameras to be incredible at night photography, for everything from milky way to star trails, to street photos.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1 cameras also have a built in manual shooting mode called Live Composite which is a game changer for moving light night photography. For star trails, lightning and fireworks, the Live Composite mode is absolutely incredible at keeping an even foreground exposure while capturing any new light sources.
Check out our recommended gear below:
Seattle has so many opportunities for photographers! Not only is the city, itself, beautiful, the Cascade and Olympic Mountains also provide incredible backdrops to the East and West, along with Mt. Rainier looming over the city to the Southeast. And, in only 30-45 minutes from Seattle, you can get into the mountains for hiking, exploring and landscape photography.
We highly recommend staying in downtown Seattle as the city has so much to offer and is very walkable. Depending on the week, you can score great hotel deals with waterfront views! We use Booking.com for their ease of booking and flexible cancellation policies.
In this post, we are highlighting some of our favorite spots in Seattle for night photography! We love helping other photographers to get out and explore, and hope that some of these photos will inspire you to get outside and experiment with longer exposures and moving lights.
If you want to start learning the basics of night photography, check out our Beginners Guide to Night Photography!
Pike Place Market
The iconic Pike Place Market is usually swarming with tourists during the day, and although we live less than a mile away, we avoid the area at all costs! That being said, the vibe changes once the sun sets, the shops pack up, and the tourists disappear. And we LOVE IT.
Pike Place Market has several well lit signs and different colored lights that make it an amazing place for night photography. These lights, with wet streets after a rainy day, results in beautiful reflections that can be captured if you get down low.
Dr. Jose Rizal Park Fence
This park and the nearby bridge have some of the most iconic views of the Seattle skyline! A short walk from the parking lot is a chain link fence with a hole creating a perfect frame of the city.
With the overlapping highways, itโs a perfect spot to get car trails alongside the city lights! Keep in mind that this park may not be the safest place to be alone after sunset. We suggest going with a friend and make sure you are aware of your surroundings at all times!
Kerry Park
Ok, okโฆ we know this isnโt technically โnight photography,โ but no list of top Seattle photography spots would be complete without listing Kerry Park. Itโs one of the best places to capture the Space Needle, The Great Wheel, and Mt. Rainier all in one frame. Sunsets at Kerry Park are amazing as Mt. Rainier disappears as the sun goes down.
Discovery Park West Point Lighthouse
Urban hiking at itโs finest - Discovery Park has so much to offer within Seattle propper. With several miles of trails, overlooks and beaches, we often spend our weekday evenings here to get a breath of fresh air. At the Western most tip of the park, there is a beautiful lighthouse which you can hike down to. We have been blessed with so many sunsets at this beach with the Olympic Mountains in the background.
University of Washington
Every spring, in the March and April timeframe, The Quad at the University of Washington explodes into colorful cherry blossoms. During the day, it seems everyone in the state of Washington comes to photograph and explore this beautiful bloom, but in the early hours of the morning you can have the whole place to yourself. If youโre lucky enough to experience sunrise under the cherry blossoms in The Quad, youโll know what we mean :)
Golden Gardens
In Northwest Seattle, along the Puget Sound, is a beautiful beach front with grassy fields. As spring hits, the shores become packed with friends and family enjoying the nice weather with impressive views of the Olympic Mountains. Thereโs a small harbor nearby with sailboats coming and going that make for perfect silhouette photos when the sky lights up.
Space Needle
Everyone has seen photos of the Seattle Space Needle during the day and from a distance, but it can be fun to shoot popular sites from a new perspective. The underside of the Space Needle, at night, has an incredible golden glow that makes for a fun abstract capture.
Pier 62
A short walk from downtown Seattle, just past the touristy seafood restaurants with overpriced menus, sits Pier 62! This is one of the nicest places to catch a sunset, as you have the City, The Great Wheel, and Mt. Rainier on one side, and the Olympic Mountains on the other. Itโs fun to play with different shutter speeds as the wheel spins and changes colors for a unique photo every time.
Gasworks Park
Gasworks park sits on the North shores of Lake Union in the Fremont neighborhood. We highly suggest grabbing a late afternoon beer at Fremont Brewing Co and walking over to Gasworks Park for sunset. On still nights, with little wind, Lake Union will reflect the colorful city lights making for some really abstract city skyline shots. This area is also easily accessible by bicycle as Gasworks Park sits on the Burke-Gilman Trail that connects a lot of the city.
We hope these photos inspire you to get outside and capture some night photos! Do you have another favorite spot to photograph in Seattle? Please share it with us below in the comments section!
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