Photography tips

Light trails

Hotel Schweizerhof Lucerne in blue night lighting with festival visitors in front of the building

Key tips

  1. Select a longer shutter speed to make the movement of vehicles visible through light trails.
  2. Use a long shutter speed to capture the motion of vehicles as distinct light trails.
  3. Use a medium aperture like f/9 to capture both the details of the facade and the light trails in sharp focus.

Photographs on this topic

26 photographs with tips

The exact camera settings for each shot are shown below it - a starting point for recreating the look yourself. Click through to a photograph for detailed photography tips on that specific shot, under "Photography tips for this image".

All subjects Architecture City
Hotel Schweizerhof Lucerne in blue night lighting with festival visitors in front of the building 26 mm · f/7.1 · 1 s · ISO 250 Illuminated facade of the Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne at night with people in front of the building 26 mm · f/7.1 · 1 s · ISO 250 View of the hotel facade of the Schweizerhof in Lucerne with a street in the foreground 13 mm · f/11 · 1.6 s · ISO 200 Street in front of Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne with long exposure during a cloudy day 13 mm · f/14 · 2 s · ISO 200 Blue facade illumination at Hotel Schweizerhof Lucerne at night with passing cars 15 mm · f/9 · 1 s · ISO 250 The Lion Monument in Lucerne illuminated by purple light trails during the Lilu Light Festival 2026. 14 mm · f/6.3 · 2 s · ISO 400 Blue light trails in front of the illuminated Lion Monument in Lucerne 14 mm · f/4 · 1/20 s · ISO 4000 Lion Monument in Lucerne with light installation at night 24 mm · f/4 · 1/20 s · ISO 5000 Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne with festive lights at night 42 mm · f/4 · 1.3 s · ISO 200 The Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne at night with Christmas star lighting and passing traffic 12 mm · f/9 · 1.3 s · ISO 1000 Facade of Hotel Schweizerhof Lucerne at night with Christmas star lighting on the balconies 12 mm · f/9 · 1.3 s · ISO 1000 Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne at night with illuminated stars on the facade 12 mm · f/9 · 1 s · ISO 1000 Hofkirche in Lucerne with illuminated star between the towers at night 25 mm · f/14 · 2.5 s · ISO 1600 Long exposure of Christmas lighting at the Seebrücke in Lucerne with the water tower in the background 22 mm · f/11 · 2.5 s · ISO 1600 Long exposure of vehicle light trails in front of the festive illuminated scenery of Lucerne city at the lake 22 mm · f/11 · 2.5 s · ISO 1600 Water tower in Lucerne against a blue evening sky with long-exposure light trails from vehicles 32 mm · f/4 · 1 s · ISO 100 Water Tower in Lucerne with light trails of traffic in front of the evening sky 32 mm · f/4 · 1 s · ISO 100 Facade illumination of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Lucerne during the Lilu Light Festival at night 27 mm · f/18 · 20 s · ISO 100 Nightly fireworks over the Wasserturm of the Chapel Bridge in Lucerne 50 mm · f/11 · 5 s · ISO 200 Light trails from vehicles at twilight on Bahnhofstrasse in Lucerne with reflections in a puddle 18 mm · f/18 · 1.6 s · ISO 400 Seebrücke in Lucerne at night with passing vehicles and light trails 50 mm · f/22 · 5 s · ISO 200 View along the Seebrücke in Lucerne at night with light trails from vehicles 50 mm · f/22 · 6 s · ISO 200 Long exposure of the Seebrücke bridge in Lucerne at night with passing vehicles 50 mm · f/22 · 13 s · ISO 200 Illuminated amusement ride with light trails at a fair at night 30 mm · f/9 · 1/1 s · ISO 400

Related topics

  • Architecture
  • City
  • Light
  • Camera settings
  • Composition
  • Perspective
  • Lucerne
  • Night
  • Blue hour
  • Evening light
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