Behind the Camera
A photo is said to be worth a thousand words, yet today we will explore how these words are pieced together by taking a behind the scenes look at some of my favourite night shots and reveal the story behind how these photos were created.
These behind the scene tips will provide some food for thought on what goes into good an evening of photography, even though the evening may not be good itself.
Opportunity Strikes
This photo was close to not materialising, my goal that night was to capture a trail light shot for my upcoming blog on slow shutter speeds, yet the place I intended to shoot at was closed off which was unfortunate because it's a beautiful place overlooking the city skyline with palm trees that would have acted as the perfect backdrop for the never ending blurred lights.
The thought of enjoying a nice pizza and calling it the night was tempting, yet I was interested to see if lady luck was accompanying me that night. I walked with a lack of optimism down a busy area hoping to find a patch of great scenery connected with a busy intersection.
I stumbled on a location I thought had great potential, this was would be the first and last time I set my tripod up that night regardless of the results. The first couple of shots were extremely underwhelming and there was very little light trail existent in the photo. Instead on shooting towards the tail light of the cars I turned the camera facing the angle of incoming traffic (while standing in a safe place). The next shot was my last and it was time to decide which toppings I will be selecting with my pizza.
There was no need to take further photos as I knew the "money shot" had been taken that night. Overall It's a great shot but not astoundingly amazing, what makes it unique is the multi-level trail lights. Lady luck sent a truck my way which produced this unique trail lights stacked on each other and I now I know what to look for next time.
On the Spot Creativity
I emphatically enjoy taking photos & videos of carousels as the overall architecture and lights makes for an amazing capture, yet my intent was to never capture this photo.
I had spent quite some time capturing photos of this carousel and waiting for it restart every time it stopped was tedious yet the lights and fast moving pace of the carousel revitalised my energy levels each time. Before packing my tripod away for the night I figured to capture a video recording of the my camera set up in front of the carousel. During the video recording I was intrigued as the carousel appeared twice on my phone screen but in 2 different versions.
I had a lightbulb moment and unknowingly stumbled across the concept of TTV photography - through the viewfinder photography. Overall some of my best photography techniques have been discovered though accidental actions or mistakes.
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When Over Editing Works
At this stage I'm sure you noticed my begrudgement when setting up a tripod but it's so important to have for night shots. This photo here I managed to get away without using a tripod which I believe is attributed to the Ferris wheel being well lit and also using a wide angle focal length. My overall camera settings was 24mm, 1/50 secs, f/5.6, and surprisingly a low ISO of 100.
One aspect I like about this photo is the angle, most shots of a Ferris wheel is from afar and front on, this close up low angle shot makes the Ferris wheel appear like it's towering over the viewer.
6 months after I had taken this photo I attempted to try a creative edit for Pinterest to fit the content on Pinterest which based around creativity and inspiration. I managed to produce what I call a bubblegum edit which took on a different look then what I initially had in mind. Being able to operate in a creative free mindset can produce some nice results.
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90% planning...10% Luck
This photo is the most planned shot amongst all the featured photos, I had planned to visit this landmark called the Blue Boatshed specifically on a rainy day as I envisioned the dramatic rain clouds would act as the perfect background prop. Now this photo is not entirely a night shot and is more of an evening shot in rainy conditions, however it is similar in the sense of an outdoor photo with limited ambient lighting.
With the capture looking like it was go according to plan, I happen to have two people walk into the frame taking their own photos they planned for that evening. At first I was momentarily disappointed I would have to wait for a clear shot but I continued shooting which turned out to be good fortune.
The two characters are now telling a story inside the picture, where one person is standing still gazing into the abyss while another individual dressed in contrasting clothes is following closely behind with their phone recording the situation.
A little luck combined with planning definitely helps.
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Listen To Your Instincts
I had planned to make a photography blog on Halloween prior to the festive day and after returning home late one evening I noticed the moon glowed a little extra than normal and it happened to be a full moon. I remembering being in a rush yet was thinking a few moon shoots would resonate well in the upcoming blog. These shots were taken in my backyard over a 3 day period, I didn't use a tripod which is evident I was in a rush. Surprisingly in the series of photos the shutter speed setting varied from 1/13 sec to 1/400.
This was the first occasion I had taken semi planned photos of the moon and I was experimenting a bit with the settings. My biggest take away was getting the correct cloud formation around the moon which either makes or breaks the photo. Taking a standard shot of the moon is great but everyone's picture will look almost identical. The way the moon interacts with the clouds and how the clouds interact with the light emanating from the moon will determine the uniqueness and quality of the photo.
Thank you for your time and effort :)
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