Night Shots
Jeez, I haven't written here in a very long time, but I wanted to just drop in some of my thoughts around night photography. I've been pretty much obsessed with it over the last few months. I suppose the reason I love it so much is because it gives me a chance to spend some time with a good friend when no one else is around to bother us - or to spend some time alone when my good friend can't make it. Either way - it's quiet, it's peaceful, it's catharctic -- just plain fun.
People write me everyday - asking how to go about creating long exposures. What's the magic behind it all? How long? What equipment? All those sorts of questions. I do my best to answer, I really do - I think I do a good job at it... But -- you know what? There really is no magic to it - I hate to be the man behind the curtain -- and tell you there's no GREAT and POWERFUL OZ helping me create images -- but the truth is - I just sort of get lucky making the images. It's true.
For me, I sort of have a feel for the light. It's very strange, but the very first night shot I did with my digital camera turned out awesome - I couldn't believe it myself. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. What I mean by having a feel for the light -- it's just a matter of letting ENOUGH light land on your sensor/film - to make a decent exposure. There's no magical formula that I'm aware of - maybe there is, but I haven't seen or read about one -- I just went out and did what my photography instructor told me to do -- EXPERIMENT. If you think it looks cool with your naked eye - it'll most likely look damn cool on film. He was right.
John at Orbit 1 will do a night photography tutorial before too long. Hey, he taught me! However, I'll give you the short version -- get a tripod, a camera that can take an exposure between 5 and 30 minutes -- some slide film -- or your favorite storage card for your DSLR -- a cable release -- a warm coat - a flash light -- and get your ass out there! That's all -- really nothing more.
Find some structure that looks pretty spooky in the dark -- or some running water -- or an old building -- whatever -- and compose the way you might normally do during daylight -- set you camera to the BULB setting -- trip the shutter -- and see what happens! EXPERIMENT! With all apeture settings - and various times -- make note of how much moonlight there is... If you're using a DSLR, you'll see your results -- work from there... That's it...
Now .. watch the moon phases ... once the moon get about a quarter full -- go for it. Full moon is best -- but hey, remember what I said?? EXPERIMENT. Okay? Get out there and have some fun, dammit!