City streets,  Monochrome Madness,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: seeing the night in black and white

April 3, 2025 / 33 Comments

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day

Vincent Van Gogh

The first colour many of us think of when we hear the word ‘night’ might well be black. But as Van Gogh has reminded us, there are many more colours to be seen then too. And he made his remark before the advent of our brightly lit cities, where many colours are more evident at night than black!

It may seem counter-intuitive, therefore, to create monochrome photos of the night. But that’s the case with so many colourful things, like flowers, and yet they can make excellent black and white images.

I take quite a lot of photos at night when we travel, but they aren’t always successful. I don’t carry a tripod so I’m reliant on convenient surfaces on which to rest the camera or even handholding for brighter shots. For that reason, I take more city shots than rural. I look for views from high up, reflections in a river (or wet street), moving traffic and illuminations of all kinds.

I think I found enough in my archives to experiment with black and white conversions for this week’s Monochrome Madness, hosted by Elke, on the theme of night-time. All my images were shot originally in colour and converted using Nik Silver Efex Pro. I’ll start with a photo from my recent trip to the Philippines and then take you on a whistle-stop tour of the world at night!

A view of Manila from City Garden Grand hotel’s rooftop bar, Firefly

Ho Chi Minh City at night from the roof terrace of the Liberty Central Hotel, Vietnam

[my feature photo was also taken here]

Lanterns in Hoi An, a very different side to Vietnam

The Thu Bon River in Hoi An at night, Vietnam

Siem Reap night market, Cambodia

Frying insects at a street food stall in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

[and yes, we sampled some!]

View of the Zócalo in Mexico City from the Balcon Zócalo restaurant

Djemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakesh, from a restaurant terrace

The Kyoto Tower, Japan

Bishopsgate (near Liverpool Street Station), London

A back street near the cathedral in Seville, Spain

Seville Cathedral and bell tower

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria

bul. Tsar Osvoboditel, Sofia

The Grossmünster, Zurich, Switzerland

The Pont Louis-Philippe from the Pont Marie, Paris

Moon setting, Lagarta Lodge, Costa Rica

33 Comments

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