There I was last Thursday night at this lovely spot, on a cool clear night with a nearly full moon, fighting the urge to pull out the camera and take a shot. The winning argument being I take my night work on slide film and I had no slide film with me. It was convincing enough for me. But ...
There I was last Friday night at this lovely spot, on a cool clear night with a no moon but heaps of stars, fighting the urge to pull out the camera and take a shot. The argument wasn't convincing enough for me. So while dinner was cooking (burning actually) I was mucking about setting up the camera. I'd arrived in the dark. Only had my headlights to see what was around me, and being in the middle of nowhere it was pitch black. Still I got the exposure happening and sat down to eat my burnt dinner.
Then sometime later I looked up and went "I'm sure there were more stars than that earlier". And there were. Now there were lots of clouds.
Realising that the exposure wasn't nearly long enough to have recorded the landscape - which is after all why I take these shots - I thought I had to do something worthwhile or waste a sheet of film.
So I did something worthwhile.
Numerous people have at times told me I need to concentrate more on the night stuff. But aside from the fact that I'd get bored of it rather quickly, there are far more factors that need to be taken into account when doing long exposures outside, which really necessitates being all one does - no work, no play, just get up late, go to bed early and memorise moon tables, and read only weather maps. This shot aptly demonstrates one of the annoying factors that can screw up a perfectly good photograph.
1 comment:
I like the precision torch work. Was it paced out or just hand held?
I think I've told you several times about the astronomer who's hobby was long exposure photography of telescopes and stars, and his long running battle with a colleague who's hobby was to carefullly pace out very rude words with a torch in front of telescopes.
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