It is night, as in this old shot of Grand Central Station. How do you deal with this?

Technique. A combination of techniques, actually. Use as many of these as you can:

• Stabilize your camera. Use a tripod, or balance the camera securely on any surface (protecting it with a bean bag).
• Use a wide lens. This makes it possible to shoot slower.
• Use a stabilized lens.
• Use exposure compensation (minus!), or spot meter off buildings, to avoid too-long shutter speeds.
• Increase your ISO if you have to.
• Sometimes I even slightly underexpose and then push the exposure later – better a little grain, if I must, than motion blur.

• Take many shots – and just use the sharp ones!

As you see, there is no single answer. A combination of the above will work. Night is the best time for many shots – use it.

This shot is from the all-new “Travel Photography” course I just wrote for the School of Imaging, by the way. Completely rewritten and worth taking – if you are going to travel, you owe it to yourself!