a rainy night

Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists 

between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach.

~ Earl Nightingale

Remember my comments recently about microfiber cloths being your BFF?

I forgot them on this night.

You can see the little rain spots on the image.

I kinda liked the mood and texture the rain spots added, but...

...it wasn't what I had intended.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/11 14 sec XF18-55mm (42mm EFL)

night notes

Most glorious night!

Thou wert not sent for slumber!

~ Lord Byron

I will never, ever tire of this view.

Night photography. Of the city. Down by the river.

Will. Never. Tire.

This particular night it was raining. 

I just can't seem to escape the rain these days...but that's another story.

I quickly took a few shots before the men on the dock moved out of the frame.

I think they were enjoying the view, too!

A few thoughts regarding night photography:

A tripod is a must for night shots.
You can never go wrong by using a tripod at any time of day.

A wired/remote shutter release is also a must.

A flashlight or other light source is helpful to see dials/settings. 

If you use the flash light mode in a mobile phone, make sure it is fully charged (don't ask how I know that!).

Pop an extra battery into your pocket.
If you use live view it eats up your battery life.
So do the long exposures, especially if you use long exposure noise reduction.
If a spare battery is in your pocket, you have easy access to it.
Change your battery at the first indication it is low in the camera.
You don't want it to poop out during a long exposure.

Microfiber cloths are your BFF, especially in the drizzle. Not only do lenses get wet,

but so do glasses!! And then all bets are off if you can't see to check your focus, etc.!

If it's dusk, an ND filter may prove useful to achieve long enough shutter speeds.

Another trick is to use multiple exposures at faster shutter speeds to get the silken water effect.

Dress warmly...it can get chilly when the sun goes down, even in summer. 

As always...just have fun!

In the end it doesn't matter if you get the shot or not if you enjoyed the process!

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/11 6 sec  XF35mm (53mm EFL)

night lights

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. 

~ Vincent Van Gogh

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Last year we watched the July 4th fireworks show in close proximity to the fireworks themselves. It was very crowded and very difficult to photograph.

This year I had a plan to photograph from a bridge that was a modest distance away from the show. 

Close enough to see the display with ease, but distant enough to be away from the crowds and to have    bridges in the foreground and city lights as complementary elements to the main show.

This image stood out because the display on the far left was clear and not overexposed, and I also caught another explosion near the towers (middle) and a flash from the show a state away (Vancouver, WA; right). 

A triumvirate of displays!!

For this shot, I manually focused on the bridge in the foreground, I used a low ISO (200), medium aperture (f/8.0), and used the bulb setting

to manually initiate and terminate the exposure time. I aimed to commence the exposure after the initial explosion and end it before the disappearance of the display 

and before the beginning of the next explosion. In this case, 3 seconds. 

Exposing is empirical.

The most important part of the whole thing -

have fun!!

For more technical information on shooting fireworks, check out this site.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/8.0 3 seconds 18-135mm (EFL 52mm)