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.

Starting Something NEW

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Originally uploaded by Rain City Girl

Its been really, really long time since I've been here. A lot has happened - all for the good (thankfully). Out with the old and in with the new. Lots to do this year - so lets get this party started!

This blog is going to be a new space, a new face. More on this as we go along. But today is just the first day and I don't want to overwhelm the process.

I'm trying some thing NEW - well, old technique actually - but TOTALLY out-of-left-field NEW for me. Encaustic painting. But what's the really cool part is that this is really not about encaustic painting. This is the medium that I have chosen so things may be a little skewed that way - but what its really about is sharing words and content that inspire. I'm going to share my learning process - yes, the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm a total beginner - I figure the only thing that can happen is that I'll get better..

My hope with this blog is that it inspires you to try something NEW - or perhaps work on something old. To stop thinking about it, and do it. Be a writer, a photographer, an encaustic artist for goodness sake - whatever inspires you. Its about taking a leap. Its about taking a chance and being OK with the fact that you're probably going to suck at it at first until you get some miles under your belt. Lets have some fun.

Join in with your something new, something old or follow along however you like. I probably won't be here daily but I promise to be here a couple of times a week with some fun inspiration.