night light

Night2 002My second night shoot was about keeping the shutter open when there is little to no light and the shutter indicator suggests bulb. The shot on the left is down the side-yard. All the items are here, because the rest of the back-yard is torn up and being repaved.

I set up the tripod and did my calculations. The timer on this image was a minute-and-a-half. And the entire side-yard was practically pitch black. There are three light-sources – the kitchen light streaming through the windows; the office light seeping through the window in the center of the image and the night-sky peaking through the alley. The kitchen light is harsh in contrast with the dark also there are no shades on the kitchen windows. And even though they are stained glass, it’s not a colored glass. Because night-shoots in the bulb range and really a trial-and-error experience, I’m gonna shoot again tonight to see how I can minimize the kitchen light. I’m thinking of turning off the over-head and leaving only the light over the stove and the light in the alcove. Anyway, it’ll be a chance to experiment. (I also chucked my 60-Minutes stopwatch for the one on my phone. First of all, the one on the phone can be seen in the dark and the numbers are big.)

Tomorrow the dining-room/office is being replaced. The new window will not have a storm in front of it. I’m wondering what that will do to the light?

There are two aspects of the image on the left that I like: (a) the sliver of blue sky and (b) the soft light from the window. The blue sky between the two houses was a complete surprise. I could see blue above the street-light, but was surprised when I caught it in the image. The soft light is from the overhead light in my dining-room/office. It too was a surprise given how harsh the light from through the kitchen windows turned out to be.