While many are depressed by the long, dark, winter nights in Scotland (dark by around 3.30pm by mid-winter), I tend to take the chance to snap some night shots of the city. I’m always fascinated by the way the camera, on a long exposure, can drink in more light to see more than the human eye can, and also how different the city seems at night, or how different again on wet nights to dry nights.

Dusk skies, the very tail-end of Blue Hour, just that little hint of fading colour in the western sky.

A wet evening by the Union Canal – the wiggly line you can see is a “light trail”, caused by a passing light caught in the long exposure into a line. When it is on a car or bicycle, it tends to be a smooth line, here it is dipping up down like a sine wave because it was a head torch on a jogger running alongside the canal

Passing traffic creating light trails on a wet evening

Warp speed!!! A double decker bus, caught on a long exposure as it passed, creating this interesting light effect.

The Union Canal at night, the upper pic around a four second exposure, the lower image was a much longer (thirty seconds) exposure, capturing more light, even that light reflecting in the water and puddles, and a long, white light trail from the lamp on front of a passing bicycle, the bike itself invisible in the long exposure, only the light coming out as a solid line.

Picking up their dinner – person going into a restaurant at night, Dalry Road.

Travelling by light beams – traffic stretched out into light trails by long exposure shots

Light trails crossing the junction at Townhead, Kirkintilloch.