Light Trails London: Capture Long Exposure Night Photography in the City

When you see those glowing streaks of red and white slicing through London’s night streets, you’re looking at light trails, the visual effect created when car headlights and taillights move during a long exposure photograph. Also known as traffic light trails, they turn ordinary roads into rivers of color—and London, with its endless streams of vehicles, is one of the best places in the world to capture them. You don’t need fancy gear to get started. Just a camera that lets you control shutter speed, a tripod, and a spot with enough moving traffic. The magic happens when the shutter stays open long enough to record every twist and turn of headlights as they pass by.

London’s bridges are natural stages for this kind of photography. Tower Bridge, Westminster Bridge, and the Millennium Bridge all offer perfect angles to frame the Thames as a dark ribbon cut through by glowing lines of light. The South Bank, especially near the London Eye, gives you front-row seats to the evening rush. But you don’t have to stick to the tourist spots. Head to the A40 near Paddington or the A13 in East London, where trucks and buses roll past in steady waves, creating thick, uninterrupted trails. Even quieter roads like those around Hampstead Heath at night can surprise you with clean, rhythmic streaks when the traffic thins out just right.

What makes long exposure photography, a technique that uses slow shutter speeds to record motion over time. Also known as slow shutter photography, it’s the key to turning motion into art. is timing. You want enough movement to create clear trails, but not so much that the lights blur into a mess. Around 5 to 15 seconds usually does the trick. Use a remote shutter or your phone’s timer to avoid shaking the camera. Shoot during blue hour—the 20 minutes after sunset when the sky is still dark but not pitch black—for richer colors and less harsh contrast. London’s streetlights add a warm glow that balances the cool blue of the sky, making your photos feel alive.

And it’s not just about cars. Buses, taxis, bicycles with lights, even the occasional delivery scooter all add their own flavor. Some photographers wait for rain—wet roads reflect the trails like mirrors, doubling the effect. Others chase holiday traffic, when Christmas lights on buses or festive decorations on taxis turn the trails into something even more surreal. The city never sleeps, and neither do its light trails.

You’ll find plenty of inspiration in the posts below. From guides on the best spots to shoot at night, to tips on camera settings that actually work in London’s unpredictable weather, these are real, tested ideas from people who’ve stood on bridges in the cold, waiting for the perfect streak. Whether you’re using a phone with a night mode or a full DSLR, there’s something here for every level. No fluff. No theory. Just where to go, when to go, and how to make your light trails look like they belong on a postcard.