City at Night

It's hard to miss the City and County Building this time of year. The Downtown Denver Partnership touts it as one of the largest holiday lighting displays in the world, with floodlights and nearly a million smaller lights. It's a colorful, chaotic sight to behold — and an official nightmare for bad photographers. I have a decent camera and know the makings of a good shot when I see one. But I never even learned the basics of the technology, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I keep my nice camera, with all its giant lenses, on "auto" — always. I run from lighting displays, because the blurs that come out are too disappointing and eerily ghostlike.

But for anyone who's a braver amateur than I, or the real photographic deal, tonight's the night to make a framer. It's Photo Night, when the city turns off all the surrounding buildings' exterior lights so your focal point "really pops," says the Partnership's Sarah McClean. The city consulted with experts to get the lighting just right for its glamour shots, so there's no better time to see the spectacle than tonight — or January 11, when the next (and final) Photo Night takes place. The lights go on at 6 and stay on until midnight; visit www.downtowndenver.com or call 303-534-6161.
Tue., Dec. 4; Fri., Dec. 7; Fri., Dec. 21; Fri., Jan. 11, 2007