15:30 – 17:00. The sky goes deep blue while the lights come on — the best hour of a Swedish winter day.
18-150 · 18–50mmNo filterHood on
- Mode
- Av
- Aperture
- f/3.5 – f/5.6 handheld · f/8 on the tripod
- ISO
- Auto (max 6400; raise to 12800 for markets)
- Exposure ±
- −⅓
- Drive
- Low-speed continuous
- Focus
- Servo · tap the lights or a face
Do this
- Markets, handheld: widest aperture, ISO Auto, −⅓ to keep the mood dark. Three frames, keep the sharpest.
- Turning Torso, the Öresund bridge, the harbour: tripod, M mode, f/8, ISO 100, 2–8 seconds, 2-second timer. Same method as the lighthouse card.
- The blue only lasts about 25 minutes after sunset. Be set up before.
- Candles and fairy lights: focus on them, let everything else go soft. Expose for the lights (−⅔), not the room.
If it goes wrong
- Lights are blobs, everything else black
- That's often the photograph. If you want the surroundings too, wait for more blue in the sky — earlier in the window.
- Orange everywhere
- Street lights. Fine in the RAW; ignore it on the screen.