Friday, December 3, 2010

Come to the Dark Side

Midnight Passage
Thematic Photographic 126 Dark  for more Night photos click the button




I am definitely a night owl type, but you wouldn't know it from my photos.  My best night shots were taken at the fair and included in the It's Electric set.  Most of my night photos never see the light of day.  I have standards and they don't meet them.  When I like a particular composition or appeal, such as the above photo, I will work with it in a photo editing program (I usually use PhotoFiltre, which is a free download) until I can make "art" out of it.

I know I need to use a tripod at night.  But I rarely have a photo session planned out to that degree.  Someday I will make time to learn all the proper settings, but right now it's pretty much hit or miss ... mostly miss ;)  I especially love Moon shots.  Carmi's got a wonderful one up at the link.  I have only ONE showing craters and all but it was taken in the middle of the day.  I do have one shot of a full moon ... it was my first so don't judge it too harshly.

My Night to Howl

It's very dark I know, but I really like the ambiance in this one.   It was take with my first digital camera, a little point and shoot that didn't have a lot of features, but it took good pictures and was great for learning on.  It lasted about a year.  I think I just wore it out ;)




Starry Starry Night 

This one was what I call a happy accident.  It was taken from a moving car (I wasn't driving) while exiting the Festival of Lights on John's Island.   The movement was the reason for the seeming multiple exposures.  I think it was a combination of the movement and the darkness that kept the structures that held these lights from showing.  Some of the stars were blinking, and with the longer shutter speed they faded to almost ghostly apparitions in a similar way to Max's staged ghost shot was done ... which, btw, he has up for this theme.  Y'all should go check it out, it's very cool.

Speaking of Max, I've included this next shot for him, and the Gearheads and any other car lovers among us.

A Night on Charles Towne

This beauty was parked at the curb at Forrest Gump's one night when I was downtown.  Charleston is ALWAYS a photo shoot for me, so of course I had my camera.  I don't know what kind she is or anything (my kind of geek is directed other ways) but I'm sure one of our motor heads can tell us ;)

That that's all I got folks.  








13 comments:

  1. Keep taking night shots! I really like what you did with the first shot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic pics, Sally - each one is a work of art.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the one of the moon between the tree turnks. So howling-at-the-moon, and expecting a werewolf to come out of nowhere kind of feeling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the starry lights.
    And that car is classic;)- even at night:)
    Great captures!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Sally,
    The Midnight Passage shot is stunning. Don`t know why you don`t show more of these, I would be as pleased as punch to be able to do anything half as good!
    J
    Follow me at HEDGELAND TALES

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like these night shots too! I’ve got a couple I took one foggy night. For me, those dark shots really have something special. I’d love to see some more.
    The enigmatic, masked blogger

    ReplyDelete
  7. You've got serious nighttime photography chops, my friend: I can't decide which one I like most! So I'm simply going to conclude that I'm drawn to the diversity of the series, the fact that you deliberately try different approaches and subjects.

    I hear you re. the low-light/standards thing. The optical challenge of shooting at night by definition raises the failure rate. I'm not used to having only a couple of shots - if any - from an entire shoot come out sufficiently good to warrant sharing. But it is what it is, and I think a good, near-impossible challenge is probably good for our individual and collective photographic soul.

    I don't know if there's any one setting that works at night. My only strategy is to get the camera into full-manual - because auto-exposure typically gums up in the dark - and bracket endlessly. Moon shots demand careful exposure: I usually end up waaaaay underexposing. Everything else is a total crapshoot, which I guess is why I love it so much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Sally,
    I'm really liking your different photos. You have been an inspiration for me to dabble a bit into the 'darker side' of photography.
    My patience paid off and I managed to capture some 'wee folks' outside in my garden, in the dark.
    Thanks for these pictorial delights, Sally. I really enjoy dropping by here and learning a bit more about photography.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Kind wishes, Gary.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOVE that Starry Night shot! That's fabulous! I like that first one, too--I like the silouette thing that is sort of going... I think your skill is pretty amazing, but then I can't take pictures at all...

    ReplyDelete
  10. MS- being a were-blogger, i have to say i have the most fondness for the Night to howl pic...

    as i sat here eatin a big bowl of chili, i was hoping and glad that you had no spider pics...

    good job girl...

    bruce
    stupid stuff i see and hear
    and
    bruce johnson jadip

    ReplyDelete
  11. cool night shots!!

    i like the night too! the dark. moon. stars.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the stars :0)

    I love taking pictures (mostly of dogs believe it or not) but they don't really come out right. I find night shots don't work and my camera seems to struggle with dog action shots, probably need to invest in something better.

    ReplyDelete