Do you sense the strangest things?
Things no one would ever guess
Things mere words cannot express
~Beauty underneath, from the musical Love Never Dies
Love Never Dies
Location: London, UK
Date & time: 2 November,2010. 23:24
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/3.2
Focal Length 8.3 mm
ISO Speed 400
Modifications : Adjusted contrast, cropping, noise reduction
No one can beat the course of nature, that's a fact. At the moment, the temperature here in Kerimäki is -4 degrees Celsius. That simply means that whether I like it or not, I won't see my favorite subjects for at least 4 months. So what's a shutterbug to do? Two things: leave, or live with it. I left gloomy Finland last week for the bright lights and lively atmosphere of London. Although I didn't manage to take nature photos on account of the weather, I'm still happy with the shots I brought home.
For the past few days, my Flickr uploads were mostly photos of London buildings. I reckon that most of my Flickr contacts thought they were visiting someone else's photostream. One even said that he misses my macro shots, lol! I miss them too, more than you will ever know, but I had to make do with the buildings. Why? Because they were the only available subjects after shopping or watching musicals.
I regret that you won't learn much from this blog entry --surprise, surprise-- as I don't have much experience in night photography. I only get to give it a shot whenever I am in other countries (excuses, excuses!). Anyhow, I just created this blog entry to relieve me of boredom and to show you that the darkness can transform something nice into something majestic. Take a look at the photos of Royal Albert Hall below.
1 September 2010, 16:33
2 November 18:11
The second photo looks better by a mile, don't you agree? I rest my case :-)
I think anyone can take good photos of buildings at dusk or night time, but selecting settings could be a bit tricky for beginners. Since I can't be of help with tips, check out this site for some useful info.
If you're wondering how I managed to take some decent night photos, well.. I won't keep you in the dark. I'm known for keeping things simple, perhaps I owe it to my innate laziness. When taking photos at night, I choose the well-lit buildings as subjects. With my camera's scene capture type set to 'night' or 'fireworks', I find a good angle to shoot from, and then I take one or two photos. They don't always turn out great, but then again, that's quite normal. To minimize noise, I use Neat Image. My 'method' may not be the proper way to do it, but it works for me and my camera. I'm happy as long as the shots don't look too mediocre.
Below are some of my after 8 shots taken in London and Kuala Lumpur.
1. Her Majesty's Theatre, 2. National Gallery, 3. Dusk, 4. Just to break the monotony
I don't when I would have the chance to do night photography again. Actually, I don't know if I'd get to do any kind of photography for the next 4 months. If I will travel in December, for sure you would see new photos from me again, if not, then that means I'll be on hibernation mode 'til spring. *sobs*
