Where City Meets Sea: My Love Affair with Waterfront Cityscapes

My photography niche for the past decade has been “Long Exposure Cityscape Photography at Blue Hour,” but long exposure cityscape has a few subcategories such as bird’s-eye views, light trails, waterfront scenes, etc.

Among these, waterfront cityscapes are my absolute favorite, as long exposures smooth the surface of the water, creating a dreamlike, otherworldly effect that softens the urban backdrop and adds a sense of calm to the image.

Marina Bay (Singapore). 18mm, f/13, 168 secs, ISO 100.

How Exposure Time Transforms Water

Interestingly, depending on the length of the long exposure, the smoothness of the water changes, as seen below. From my experience, a long exposure of two to three minutes is usually sufficient to create a silky-smooth water effect, with little additional benefit from exposing much longer. Moreover, extremely long exposures often lead to increased digital noise, resulting in grainier images. 😢

Comparing exposure length (shutter speed). The longer it is, the smoother the water becomes.

Fortunately, Singapore’s CBD is located along the southern coastline, which gives me endless opportunities to shoot its stunning skyline right at the water’s edge. Likewise, I’m drawn to cities and landmarks built near the coast. For some reason, places where the city meets the water have always felt special to me!

First photo: Shanghai Skyline from Opposite the Bund (China). 18mm, f/11, 164 secs, ISO 100.
Second photo: Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque (Brunei). 20mm, f/13, 131 secs, ISO 100.

How Water Shaped My Style

Looking back, I’ve always been attracted to the water. My early photography days were filled with sunny beachscapes and seascapes, a genre I explored with my first DSLR (Nikon D60 😅) in the late 2000s. I’d travel to places like Phuket (Thailand), Langkawi (Malaysia), and Cebu (Philippines) to shoot sun-drenched beaches.

It was during those trips that I began staying behind after sunset, discovering the quiet beauty of blue hour. I realized that as the blue hour sky deepens, shutter speeds naturally lengthen, allowing me to capture motion and blur. That’s when I fell in love with long exposure photography. 😍

Since then, my focus has shifted from seascapes to cityscapes, but my fascination with water has never faded. In fact, “waterfront cityscapes” are the perfect combo that unites my love for water and urban landscapes!

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About the Author: LASTLIGHTS.NET is a passion project of Joey J, a Singapore-based Japanese photographer primarily shooting cityscape photography with long exposure at blue hour. Visit his Photo Gallery (40 most favourite photos taken) or download his free eBook, Getting Started with Long Exposure Photography .