Trying Something New - Night Shots

St. Peter in front of the Basilica at Vatican City

Part of Finding Your Eye in photography, I need to explore some things that I don't normally do. Night shots - perfect. I tend to be a home body in the evenings, so getting out to take night photos is not my norm. However, I did cheat a little here because we were recently travelling in Rome and were out at night. No time to be a home body - just too much to experience.

View of Via Condoti from the Spanish Steps

Night shots were a little tricky for me to figure out at first. I found that I really didn't need to adjust the exposure as much as I would have thought. My initial reaction was to crank up the exposure to allow in more light. The above is taken at exposure 0 - normal with no adjustment either way. The same is for the first photo.

Merry-go-round near the Castle St. Angelo

Again, more surprises for me with night shots. The merry-go-round above was taken with exposure +.7 and shutter speed 1/30, f5.6. I was able to hold the camera and get a good photo without a tripod. I learned through this process with the lower f number I was still able to hold the camera in many cases.

View of St. Peters

The photo above of St. Peters is exposure is -1, f/5.6, 1/20. This one I did rest the camera on the railing of the bridge from where I took the shot.

Overall, I can say that I really loved trying night photography. I can see to do it really well, that I would like to invest in a tripod. It was interesting to push a little and find the limits when I could still hold the camera and get a good photo, versus needing a steady surface. Super fun to try something really new for me. I am anxious to learn more about getting great night shots and to keep practicing. I found I was in love with the lighting and reflections.

On Light

I have been looking at light in photography a little differently this week thanks to Kat Sloma. She is offering a photo course through Wish Studio called Finding Your Eye. These photos are taken on our black lacquer table in front of East facing windows. The challenge this week has been sunlight.... virtually non existant in Seattle. We are really living up to our reputation here this week - rain, rain.........rain

But even with the challenge of the light - the soft light that comes from overcast days can add a moodiness it seems.

There was a Sun Break and I grabbed camera and snapped a few photos of the outdoor potted plants on the deck. I love how they look like stained glass.

I was asked to think about what it is about photography that floats my boat. Its taken me a whole day and a half to mull that over. Photography for some reason has really touched my heart this past year. To the point that I upped from a point and shoot and invested in a nice Big Girl Camera. So what's up with this? I've taken photos forever but never with this kind of inspiration behind it. My conclusion is that photography allows me to play, look at things a little differently and be in the moment. Maybe I need this right now, or maybe I am ready for it at this point in my life. I like to try to capture and experience the little things in life that are the wonder in this world - to me anyway. When I put together a file of my favorite photos today, I realized there are some lovelies. Lots of texture and color, nature, funny angles, highly cropped and other oddball things and subjects. I decided its because I love the small little offerings in this world. The things that catch my eye and keep me in the moment.

What about your art floats your boat?