Where to shoot in Bedford when the light goes

From November onwards the usable daylight in Bedfordshire is basically over by four. A lot of people take that as the end of the season. It is not — it is just a different set of photographs.

The Embankment is the obvious one and it earns it. The bridges throw light onto the water, and there is enough of it to shoot handheld at a sensible ISO if you stay near the lamps. Get there in the blue half hour after sunset rather than full dark and the sky still has colour in it.

Bedford High Street after the shops shut is quieter than you would think and the shop lighting does interesting things to wet pavement. If it has rained, go.

Priory Country Park is the opposite proposition — properly dark, no light pollution to speak of on the far side of the lake. Tripod, long exposure, patience. Nothing handheld is going to work there.

The railway station at rush hour gives you people, movement, and hard artificial light in one place, and it is undercover if the weather turns.

And the multi-storey car parks, which sound grim and are excellent. Top level, looking out over the town, is one of the few elevated positions you can get to easily.

A note on all of these: be sensible, be visible, and if you are out on your own in the dark, tell someone where you have gone. Half of our winter students end up shooting these in pairs, which is more fun anyway.