Melbourne City Photography at Night

Indulging in a bit of Melbourne city photography at night can be rewarding. With my most recent trip to Australia once again based in Melbourne, I’d intended to improve upon my initial attempt. But, I ran out of time.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to share my first try so that I can show off the improvement when I finally get around to it. And because I hope to inspire other budding photographers to go out and give it a shot.

Now if you do decide to enjoy a spot of Melbourne city photography, there are plenty of great places to go to that will allow you to take some stunning photographs. It depends on what you’re aiming for but there’s certainly something for everyone in Melbourne.

I opted to start by trying to take a picture of the flame pillars that flare up outside Crown casino. Though I failed miserably in getting the shot I wanted. I kind of managed to capture them though, and I’m happy enough with the lighting situation I have going on here.

You’ll notice that pretty much all of the decent pictures I have were taken somewhere along the Yarra. It’s because at night you tend to find that additional light and reflections can make your Melbourne city photography look much better. Where better to get some multi-coloured reflections than across the Yarra river?

When you’re doing something for the first time it’s always encouraging to see some kind of success and progression. With the help of the well-lit riverside, I achieved that with my Melbourne city photography. I will suggest that if you have a tripod you should utilise it here. Consider taking photographs remotely if you can. It should help to prevent the camera shaking as you take a pic.

The majority of my pictures ended up blurry because I didn’t have either of these things. They looked fine on the viewfinder but the smaller resolution was misleading.

I had an excellent idea of taking a photograph beneath a bridge. I wanted to capture a cylindrical reflection. Well, I didn’t manage it. As far as end product goes, it was alright, but not what I wanted. Resting my Sony SLT-A57 digital camera on a ledge as an improvised tripod didn’t go to plan. The vibrant background would’ve made a better picture.

From here I decided to give Flinders Street Station a try. I knew full well that it’d be lit up and bright yellow, which would make it a bit less reliant on a long exposure.

The problem at the station was more that there were a lot of people on top of traffic passing by. I did manage to capture a few light trails from the buses and cars whizzing past, which I was quite happy with.

Finally, my favourite shot of Melbourne city photography at night. It’s partly because of the amount of skyline that I managed to fit into the frame, but also the variety of colours and reflections. I need to improve my focus, but it’ll do for a first try.

They’re my current crop of photos, which I hope will be retaken and improved upon in the not-too-distant future.