Great images are to be had by venturing outside at night time. A dull city can become a colorful blaze of bright lights at night.Most cameras are capable of exposures up to 30 seconds, however once you start to exceed exceed this then the camera control moves from the precision of the camera’s light meter to some guess work on your part.
You will need a camera with a bulb mode to enable the shutter to stay open for some time, also some fast lenses with apertures of f/2.8 or better, may be required. You can overcome the use of low apertures by extending the exposure time.
Place youir camera on a tripod to keep it stable during the long exposures and use a cable release to keep the camera steady during the exposure.
If you photograph traffic with moving lights you will get interesting effects with the moving lights causing lines in the image.
Night time street parades are great photogrsaphic opportunities. This is at Disneyland, Tokyo
Shibuya, Tokyo at night
A night image at Disneyland Tokyo.