California Photo Scout

USS Midway at Night from the Pier

The old proverb, all colors will agree in the dark, is obsolete since the advent of color photography. In her infinite wisdom, Mother Nature gave us good eyesight at night. The reduced color vision is a small price to pay to see in the dark and not be eaten.

Then men invented color photography.

Now we can increase exposure time but retain color sensitivity in the dark. Suddenly, night is vibrantly colorful. The different color temperatures of the varied artificial light sources produce a wide color spectrum only visible to the camera. It is easy to dazzle viewers with night photography. Reason enough to explore the energetic city of San Diego at night.

Night photography is easy. A sturdy tripod, a cable release and patience will get you very good reproducible results. The additional effort keeps the competition away and the streets empty for your work.

San Diego is an appealing city to photograph at night. The San Diego Bay provides a splendid reflecting pool, the old gas lamps arrange for color and the varied subjects ensure diversity. Consider a night out on your next photo tour and take advantage of the changeling city.

How to get there

San Diego Night Photography Map (Click to Enlarge)

Parking in Downtown San Diego can be pricey. Plan your parking strategy (see resources below) and take advantage of special nightly rates. You can also stay in a downtown hotel, but the parking rates are very high.

Alternatively, you can stay in a hotel near Old Town and take the San Diego Trolley to Santa Fe Depot. You can also take the train from outside the city to the Depot, which is centrally located and a good starting point for a tour.

GPS position

• 32° 42.688’N 117° 9.608’W

How to photograph San Diego at Night

Maritime Museum

Star of India at Night

Photographing the ships of the San Diego Maritime Museum at night is difficult. Since the water causes the ships to move, you have to reduce exposure time to prevent blur. This means you have to compromise noise performance.

Keep your exposure time below 2s to avoid significant motion blur on the ships. Increase your ISO speed accordingly and use wider apertures. With a wide-angle lens, you can safely increase your aperture to f/6.3 or f/7.1 while retaining sufficient depth of field. Image stabilization does not help, since the ship itself moves. Use a tripod and turn IS off.

Do not forget to reset your camera to ISO 100 after you are done here, or you will have increased noise for all other locations.

USS Midway

V-J day couple at night

Walk south along North Harbor Drive to one of the most rewarding locations, the area around the USS Midway. At the top of the article, you can see a picture I took of the ship from the wooden planked boardwalk.

The Navy Pier north of the USS Midway affords you an unobstructed view of the giant superstructure and the red, white and blue lighting on the Midway. Step back as far as possible to avoid the wide-angle effect (converging verticals).

In the park to the south, you will encounter three monuments. Warm yellow light sources illuminate the Bob Hope Monument and the Admirals and Ships Monument. Those complement the bright alien light of the Midway.

Seaport Village

San Diego Seaport Village

Continue south to Kettner Boulevard at Seaport Village. The yachts and the shopping huts create a pleasing foreground for the city skyline. Capture the reflections of the ships and the buildings in the water of the yacht harbor.

From Seaport Village, you can take a detour to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, the shopping, dining and entertainment district of San Diego, or continue north on Kettner Boulevard to the Santa Fe Depot (skip next section).

Gaslamp Quarter

Car lights on 5th Avenue

Take Market Street to 5^th Avenue to get to the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter that encompasses 5^th Street. The party corner of San Diego is difficult to photograph. Grab a drink and rest a few minutes before taking some photographs.

The streets are busy with pedestrians and cars. Try to incorporate them in your composition. This creates very dynamic compositions. Try different exposure time / ISO combinations to get the right amount of blur on the people and / or the cars. A person moving towards you will not show significant blur with exposure times below 1/15s.

Walk north on 5^th Avenue to West Broadway. Turn west (left) and follow Broadway to the Santa Fe Depot.

Santa Fe Depot

Santa Fe Depot

The Santa Fe Depot looks beautiful at night. The lamps create a bright yellow that combines favorably with the interior or the blue-lit tiling around the fountain. The colors of the different light sources and their reflections give the Santa Fe Depot a brilliance that increases the appeal beyond its wonderful architecture and beautiful downtown location.

Use the lowest possible ISO level and narrow aperture for large depth of field long exposures. This will also eliminate people walking in the distance, since they become invisible due to the slow exposure. Use the mirror lockup of your camera and wait at least 10 seconds between the SLR mirror flipping and taking the picture. Make sure the wind does not blow your camera strap around. Take it off or tie it around the camera.

These tips help you to obtain maximum sharpness. Use a level or any other visual aid your camera provides (frame dividing lines and others) to aid you in composing straight images. Technically accurate and clean night images are a pleasure to look at.

The following locations require a car.

Coronado Island

San Diego Skyline from Coronado

Coronado Island is my favorite location to photograph the San Diego Skyline. In the linked article, I described the location in greater detail, including parking and best skyline views.

Using the water, nearby beach and ferry landing pier as your foreground, experiment with wide-angle to telephoto compositions. The lights at the pier and waterfront sometimes get in the way. If I cannot move the camera to another location to achieve the same composition, I sometimes stand between the camera and the disruptive light source. I make sure that I cast a shadow on the lens, yet that I am not visible in the picture. Then I use the cable release to trigger my camera.

Harbor Island

Harbor Island Sunset

You can find a very different perspective from Harbor Island Drive. At night, you will not have problems parking to enjoy the views.

Harbor Island is another good place to start the tour or continue the tour, since the view includes many of the ships, making the sunset the best time for a visit. Photographing the ships at night causes blur due to their movement.

From Harbor Island, you have a good view of the airplanes approaching San Diego International Airport. During their approach from the east, the planes come in very low above the city, appearing to graze the buildings. Come a little earlier, use a telephoto lens and high ISO to freeze the airplane in motion or use a slower speed (1/60 to 1/10) and pan with the airplane to blur the background.

Balboa Park

Balboa Park at Night

Balboa Park, a National Historic Landmark, is the largest urban cultural park in the United States. It is host to museums, gardens, performing arts venues and even the famous San Diego Zoo. Balboa Park is thus a favorite past-time destination of San Diegan’s and visitors.

Night photography at Balbo Park is fun too. You will find it much easier to drive around and drop your car at many of the empty parking lots, right next to your objects of desire. The well-lit buildings and fountains result in spectacular colors and you will not have to compete with the crowds.

Check out the Lily Pond at the Arboretum. In the picture above, I used it as a reflecting pool for the towers of the Museum of Photographic Arts.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Start around sunset and take advantage of residual light in your first photographs.

Time required

The Downtown loop takes about 4 hours. When you add the drive to Coronado, Harbor Island and Balboa Park and photography at those places, you will need the entire night. If you have multiple days, I recommend splitting the tour into several smaller tours.

Equipment

• Tripod
• Cable Release
• Coins for parking meters
• Zoom lens
• Small flashlight
• GPS or map

Fees

Tickets to the Maritime Museum are $12 for adults. Discounts apply for children, seniors and active military personnel.

Close Locations

• San Diego Maritime Museum
• Aircraft Carrier USS Midway
• Santa Fe Depot
• Harbor Island
• Seaport Village
• Coronado Island
• Hotel del Coronado
• Balboa Park
• Old Town
• San Diego Mission
• Cabrillo National Monument
• Mission Bay
• Pacific Beach Crystal Pier

Useful Resources

• San Diego Downtown Parking Spaces
• Maritime Museum
• USS Midway
• Gaslamp Quarter
• Seaport Village
• Balboa Park

• best nightlife in San Diego CA

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Where is your favorite night photography location in San Diego? Do you know of a good place? Let us know below!