Puerto Banús at blue hour

Puerto Banús was built in 1970 as a marina village and still looks the part: low white buildings with arches and balconies, a horseshoe of quays, and boats along the front that get larger the further round you walk. La Concha rises behind the whole thing.

The frame worth planning for is from the breakwater, looking back at the village. The water inside the harbour is dead flat, so the white façades, the masts and the lights all repeat below the waterline; a couple on the quay reads as a silhouette against it. The mountain behind keeps the composition from being just boats.

Blue hour is the window, and it is short. Twenty to thirty minutes after sunset the boat lights and the restaurant terraces come on while the sky is still blue; ten minutes later the sky is black, the contrast doubles and the picture flattens. Get in position before the sun goes.

The marina is privately run, so a paid session is not automatic — check with the port before you build a shoot around it, and expect to be asked. Parking is paid and fills in August; the quays get very busy from ten at night onwards. Daytime works too, but the light is hard and the boats reflect it badly — this is an evening location.