How to Photograph the Hong Kong Symphony of Lights

Victoria Bay Cityscape at Night, Hong Kong


The Hong Kong Light show is a nightly spectacle called the Symphony of lights. We were told it involves 44 buildings on the harbour front. This is how we did it.



First, we were on Hong Kong island so we took the Star ferry before sunset over. Another famous attraction, this ferry now operates mostly for tourists and carries more fame with it than anything else. We sat on the West side to catch the sunset.

Star Ferries, Hong Kong Photo by Yuki

Star Ferry, Hong Kong Photo by Yuki
Then, along the shores of Tsim Sha Tsui we waited for the sun to set. A lot of people were congregating here and so I found us a corner of the railing where I was able to sneak over the side and crouch down while Yuki sat in the railing. This gave us an unobstructed front row seat and also a platform for me to set up my mini tripod.

It is important to capture the essence of a place. This location gave me a different perspective than all the other cameras lining up along the railing prior to the symphony of lights. Hong Kong
As the light began to fade I tested my settings to make sure I had the right shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I also made sure that my remote trigger was working properly so that I didn’t have to touch the camera to operate it and thus risk inducing motion blur.



When the show started, I was ready to capture it. Using the remote shutter and tripod meant that I just had to wait until the bright lights appeared to press the shutter without having to compose my pictures. That also allowed me to enjoy the show more as I wasn’t completely focused on getting pictures.



The show itself was cool to see at the beginning but after a while it seemed to be the same few buildings lighting up big spotlights and green lasers without changing much. There was background music that went along with the show but Yuki and I felt that it wasn’t as big as everyone made it out to be. Regardless, for a free attraction by the Tourism Board, it is a pretty cool sight and well worth the night.

The Symphony of Lights, Hong Kong