Night photography in Barcelona with a local photographer, from Montjuïc's blue hour to the seafront

You start as the sun leaves, in the blue hour, and finish with the city already lit up. A Barcelona photographer teaches you to photograph at night without raising the ISO until the photo falls apart: tripod, long exposures, the light of the street lamps and the reflections on the water and on the wet ground. There are three or four of you and the walk lasts two and a half to three hours. It costs €40 per person, or €80 in private for one person or a couple.

What you practise

• Stability: setting up the tripod and shooting without moving the camera.
• The exposure triangle at night: ISO, aperture and speed.
• Long exposure: car trails, water that turns to silk, people who disappear from the square.
• Artificial light and reflections, and how to compose an urban scene when the sky is already black.

A camera that can be used in manual is fine, and so is a phone. A tripod is highly recommended; if you do not have one, ask when booking.

Montjuïc, the sea or the Gothic Quarter, depending on the night

The walk changes with the day. The usual start is Montjuïc, with the Palau Nacional, home of the MNAC, lit up, and continues along the seafront promenade, the Born and the Gothic Quarter or Diagonal Mar and its viewpoints. The photographer decides the order by the light and by whether the Font Màgica is running that night. The meeting point is given when the booking is confirmed, through the website form. It does not include tickets or transport.

To go big: private from Plaça d'Espanya

Aperture Tours runs a three-hour private night walk from Plaça d'Espanya, from €200, with the Font Màgica and the Sagrada Família lit up, which according to its website is lit from Thursday to Sunday. If you are interested in the basilica at night, choose one of those days.