How I Photograph City Lights in Winter
Every winter in Bergen, I wait for the same narrow window: fresh snow, a clearing sky and that short blue-hour period when the city begins to glow. Those evenings are rare, but when they arrive, the streets, rooftops and harbour lights become far more atmospheric than they are on an ordinary night.
Fresh snow, harbour reflections and illuminated streets give Bergen a rare winter glow beneath a deep blue evening sky.
The conditions have to come together quite precisely. In a good winter, I may only get one to three real opportunities, so I follow the forecast closely. The ideal evening is when it has been snowing through the day, then stops shortly before darkness falls and the sky begins to clear a little.
That timing matters more in a city than many people realise. Fresh snow reflects the light beautifully, while older snow quickly turns grey and messy along the streets and pavements. I usually want to photograph the scene about an hour after sunset, when it is dark enough for the city lights to come alive, but early enough for the sky to keep some depth and colour.
Because the window is so short, I need to be in position in good time. A tripod is essential for this kind of image, and I also use a remote release to avoid vibration when the shutter is triggered. I often work with a relatively small aperture as well, both to keep the scene sharp and to create the star-shaped highlights that appear around the strongest light sources.
The biggest technical challenge is usually contrast. Winter city scenes can contain very bright highlights and much darker surrounding areas, and it is easy to lose detail in the brightest parts of the frame. When the scene is still enough, I often make three separate exposures and combine them afterwards into a single HDR image. That is what I did here, allowing the light to glow while keeping more detail across the image.
What I like about this type of photograph is that it tends to speak to people very quickly. Winter cityscapes feel familiar, but under the right conditions they become something more reflective and memorable than usual. This particular image was even published in Bergen’s two largest newspapers, which felt like a good reminder that ordinary streets can become something special when the weather, the light and the timing come together.
If you would like to see more from my hometown after dark, you can explore the full Bergen gallery, browse the Night collection, or continue through the wider portfolio.
