Confronting darkness

“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”

~Terry Pratchet


Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 2 sec (2)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 13.2 mm
Modifications: adjusted contrast level, cropping
Date & time: December 27, 2008 10;05PM
Location: Santa Rosa Laguna, Philippines

I have mentioned that I prefer taking photos on a nice weather because I want to make use of natural light. In close up photos, flash can highlight minute details, that is, if it's not too bright. Using flash while shooting subjects that have light colors like pale yellow or those that have shades of white may give you disastrous images as results. The photo below was taken in a butterfly sanctuary in Finland:

The subject was in the shade, had I disabled the flash, we wouldn't get to appreciate the interesting pattern in its eyes. Most of the photos in my photostream are close up shots of bugs and flowers, however, 90 percent of the photos were taken in natural light. Why? Because there are instances when flash ruined my shots, and I don't want to make the same mistakes. I rarely go out on a gloomy weather when it's too dark for me to take pictures. Yes, I am afraid of the dark. I also didn't want to waste time on shooting scenes that my camera may not handle. But I discovered recently that taking long exposure shots with my camera is not as difficult as I thought. I even managed to take fireworks photos without a tripod, and surprisingly, some turned out very good


Good results always motivate me. Right now, I am considering going beyond nature close-ups and perfect lighting conditions, but that does not mean that I will get a new camera. I am a super newbie in the night shots department, my lack of knowledge in long exposure shots plus my ignorance of the features of my camera kept me in the dark for years. A new equipment can not guarantee that I would master long exposure shots immediately, it may ages for me to get used to different camera functions or settings. For now I think that I should concentrate on learning new techniques. The fireworks of new year's eve made me realize that I should not fear darkness as far as photography is concerned. My photography should not be a 9 to 5 thing because I can take photos even after sunset and they may turn out nice. I have always wanted to see the aurora borealis. I hope that when I finally get to witness that awesome phenomenon, I am already good enough to perfectly capture it with my compact camera.