night Archives - Page 8 of 9 - Just Enough Focus

June 12, 2017June 12, 2017

Strawberry Moon

Over the weekend we had a full moon and for some reason it’s called the strawberry moon. Apparently it’s the smallest full moon of the year, but I think that doesn’t means much in practical terms because we can’t see the difference with our eyes.

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This is the Sarasota skyline from across the bay. It was one of the few nights we didn’t have cloud cover and this scene is one I’ve been waiting to capture.

In fact this is a large panorama consisting of twelve individual images in a grid of 2 x 6. At full resolution this is two by eight feet. If you are thinking of purchasing a print, be sure to select the wide panorama crop (20 x 80 or similar) when checking out or just contact me so that I can ensure you get the correct fit for the frame size you want.

I’ve been creating a lot of panoramas lately. I’m intrigued by the perspective and level of detail that’s possible. However the bigger the panorama the harder it is to put together. There are a lot of nuances that need to be fit just so. The software helps a little but most of the work is slow detail effort, although it’s something I enjoy a lot. The long slow process in kind of like a meditation for me, I’m in a different world when editing images.

I spend more time working on photos than taking them. That’s just part of my artistic process. Often I’ll come back to a photo a dozen times before I feel it’s ready. Many times it never gets there and is relegated to the reject bin. Every now and then I review the rejects and see something in a different light and bring it back to life.

more panoramas

In this case I had a strong idea of what I wanted so it was just a matter of taking the time to get it just right, in camera and in post processing. After all that work I still don’t know why it’s called a strawberry moon. I should just Google it but on the other hand I think I’ll just leave it as a mystery for now.

May 30, 2017

Bradenton Beach Pier from the Bridge

This is a view of the Bradenton Beach Pier from the bridge. I’m facing west so the pier is on the inter-coastal waterway. The Gulf of Mexico is just behind the row of buildings. To get the whole bridge in the frame I walked on to the bridge between the mainland and Anna Maria Island. Other than that I’d need to be on a boat since there’s no other place to get the full view of it.

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I took this early in the evening as people were coming home from the beach. Basically I was standing on the sidewalk next to a traffic jam. That’s because there are only two bridges leaving the island and all those thousands of people have to go home. Right after sunset it can time to drive home, good thing there is nice scenery along the way.

With all the cars crossing it causes the bridge to vibrate. That creates a challenge when taking long exposures like this. For instance, if I have a ten-second exposure and a car goes by in the first five seconds, the image will come out fuzzy. However my Sony A7rII camera has image stabilization so it was able to take a sharp image even with the vibration.

more of bradenton beach from the gallery

If you follow the pier back to shore, it leads to Old Bridge Street. That’s an area with outdoor establishments and live music at every corner. People are out walking around, listening to music and just seeing the sights. There are a lot of choices from ice cream to lobster, from smoothie to martini.

My favorite thing about Bradenton Beach is the small town atmosphere, something not so easy to come by these days. But now you know where you can find it.

May 25, 2017

Water Under the Bridge

I’m not sure where the term water under the bridge came from, but it’s one I often repeat in my head. If ever there was a metaphor for letting go this is it. It sums up our attempt to keep moving and not get defeated by stuff that happened.

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Events are like water; they just happen and we usually have no power to stop them. Water is the most powerful force on the planet. It carves continents, it sustains life and it’s a force that we cannot control. We are born into a place where have little control of things around us.

Water under the bridge is both an acknowledgement that we have no control and an opportunity to keep moving. I think what’s important is how we react rather than what happens to us. It reminds me of the other saying about the journey, not the destination. Life keeps moving and how we endure each day, and every moment in-between, is more important than what has happened or will be the destination.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t have goals or a direction in life. Rather, what defines us is how we live each day while working toward the goal, not the goal itself.

more minimalism

We all face the same choice. We may as well acknowledge the flowing water, cross the bridge, and move on through life.

May 22, 2017May 22, 2017

Cruise Ships Are Like Spaceships

On the last day of our three-day trip I got up before dawn to walk around the top deck of the ship. This walkway seemed like a portal on a space ship. I think cruise ships are like spaceships, at least like the big ones in the movies. In my mind a proper space ship has facilities to take tourist to different planets. Then at each location they probably dock on he dark side of the moon and take little excursions to the planet. You never know, truth can be stranger than fiction.

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Cruise Ships Are Like Spaceships – Taken before dawn on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas

Anyway, taking pictures of a cruise ship seems to work out better in the early morning. During the day and late into the night the decks are always crowded. But because everyone is up partying so late it’s a guarantee there are few if any people up early. That’s when you can get all those architectural details they build on to the ships; like these colorful arches for example.

Also, in the morning the crew is usually washing the decks and the sheen of wet surfaces enhances the light with reflections. Having said all that, I suppose the real trick is waking up early. Since this was the last day and we were scheduled to get off early I had to get up; I might not be so eager otherwise. About a half hour after this we pulled into the Port of Miami and I saw more cool things I wouldn’t normally see during the day.

more architecture from the gallery

Maybe one day I’ll get up early and we’ll be pulling into the dark side of the moon, and then I’ll know I was up partying way too hard.

May 9, 2017

As Though in a Dream

Recently I drove to the beach to take pictures when the moon was nearly full. In places like Bradenton Beach there aren’t many lights so a bright moon will cast a shadow. It makes for an eerie light as though in a dream. When the moon is absent you cannot even see to the end of the pier.

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As Though in a Dream – A night scene in Bradenton Beach

The egret here stood at the end of the pier while I setup the tripod and captured this long exposure in the soft glow. He remained still during the exposure because he was watching for a fish below. It seems these birds have very good eyesight.

I take pictures at all times of day, but given a preference I’ll choose low light. The world takes on a different quality and things become more interesting. For instance I wonder what it would be like to go back in time and take picture before everything was so populated. However at night we get to see a little of what that might look like. There are fewer people out so there is an opportunity to experience crowded spaces without people. Perhaps a hundred years ago I would have seen the same thing.

long exposure photography

People in photos add a human element and we easily relate to that. Sometimes landscapes or seascapes without people work as well. Having said that there was a couple that walked on to this pier while I stood here taking pictures of the heron. It was just dark enough that they didn’t seem to notice what I was doing, so as soon as the heron flew away I took pictures of them as well. I’ll post that on another day as a different interpretation of the same scene.

April 24, 2017

Amsterdam in the Early Morning Hours

Here’s another image I took while walking around central Amsterdam in the early morning hours. I was only here for a week so I made the decision to stay on North American time. That meant I was still wide awake very late which works well for night photography. I could capture the lights reflecting on the still waters of the canals to my heart’s content.

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A couple of times I left my tripod back at the hotel. To get these long exposures without shaking the camera I would make due by balancing it on a bike seat. All of the little bridges have bikes leaning against the railings. All I had to do was pick one with a relatively wide seat and gingerly set the camera down. I used a wireless trigger so that I didn’t need to touch the camera to activate the shutter.

That little system worked quite well and to be honest, it’s a technique I’ve used in many other places as well. I don’t always want to bring a tripod especially when shooting street scenes at night. For that I’m grateful for the high ISO performance of Sony cameras, it allows me to do things that were unheard of just a few years ago. For street photography you want to travel light and be able to react quickly.

Yet when I’m out walking around I’ll invariably see something like this scene and I wish I had a tripod. Then it becomes a little game of figuring out what I can use to stabilize the camera. I use all manner of things like balancing on a fence railing, stabilizing the lens with the camera strap, even placing the camera on the ground and shooting up.

night photography gallery

As a result I’m hard on camera bodies. They get scratched quite a bit. But for me the scratches on my camera body are like notches on a belt. It’s funny but a scratched up camera feels to me like a comfortable set of well worn shows; we’ve seen a lot together.

April 20, 2017April 20, 2017

Bradenton Beach Under the Light of a Nearly Full Moon

This is Bradenton Beach under the light of a nearly full moon. I was taking pictures with a friend and everything was illuminated by the glow from the moon. Coming to the beach at night is an experience that is completely different from daytime. For me it’s a meditative experience. The overwhelming sensation is the sound of the waves.

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If possible I try to take pictures of people in night scenes like this. That’s not always possible but with a moon glow and a high enough ISO it sometimes works. In this case there are people with a lantern at the end of the pier. Generally taking pictures of people during long exposures is not possible because when they move they appear invisible. To appear invisible is an oxymoron, but I digress.

Also when shooting at night around urban areas I’ll get those light streaks in the sky from aircraft. Normally I don’t notice them at the time but afterwards the streak is obvious. I suppose you could calculate speed based on the distance of the streak and the length of the exposure. Nevertheless these also occur with moving boats on the water.

night photos from the gallery

Taking photos by the beach at night is a lot of fun. If I didn’t have to get up the next morning I’d probably stay out all night. However I’ll usually leave in a relaxed state of mind with the sound of the waves faintly echoing in my head. After that I have no problem falling asleep.

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017

Hotel Europe in Vancouver’s Gastown

This is Hotel Europe in Vancouver’s Gastown. Gastown is a once-rundown-but-now-trendy section of the city. The last time I was in this area I walked around in the evening.

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There is no end of things to see especially if you like photography. In fact, several years ago I was here with my wife when she booked a photowalk with Susanne at Vancouver Photowalks. I highly recommend it if you’re so inclined. She knows the city and you’re guaranteed to come home with some epic shots.

This is a heritage building built in 1909. There are a lot of restored buildings that give the area its character. The streets are made of bricks and there is an ancient clock operated by steam. You could eat in a different restaurant every night and do an epicurean tour of the world. Each time I come back this section of town just keeps getting better.

Normally I take a tripod with me at night but this time I was just out for a stroll, not really intending to take a lot of pictures. I ended up wishing for a tripod, but made due with a high ISO instead. This was taken handheld using ISO 5000. Even though I’ve had this Sony camera for a couple of years I’m still amazed at what it can do. Maybe one day tripods will become obsolete as well.

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Anyway, if you’re in Vancouver and you want to see something a little different go to Gastown. Even better, arrange to go with Susanne from Vancouver Photowalks.

April 3, 2017April 3, 2017

Early Twilight Along the Sunshine Skyway

This is early Twilight along the Sunshine Skyway. Normally it’s crowded but at this hour there was just me and a couple of fishermen. Behind me is the Skyway and so I’m facing towards Tampa Bay. It’s about eight miles across to the other side. The lights are from the small town of Ruskin.

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I stood here composing the shot thinking it was strange that the palm trees cast such long shadows. I couldn’t figure out how they were formed because there was no light behind them. Later I realized the shadows were coming from behind me. I can be slow at times, especially so early in the morning.

I came here to shoot the sunrise and ended up exploring several locations within a half mile. This is a nesting and feeding area for sea birds. There’s always something interesting to see if you just sit and observe. What caught my eye here were the trees standing alone. Normally there would be a bunch of parked cars so this is the only time to capture the trees alone like this. I’m always on the lookout for lone trees as a subject for photography.

favorites gallery

Anyway, I sat here for about twenty minutes just enjoying the view. I wanted to sit here until the sun rose, however I thought if I did that I might miss other sights so I moved on. I’ve got to hand it to those fishermen, they see a lot of nice scenery. They stay in one place and watch the world come to them.

I am probably a little to much of a busy body to be a good fisherman. That’s why I stick to photography.

March 28, 2017March 28, 2017

All Roads Lead to Sarasota

When it comes to taking photos, this is my favorite section of Sarasota. On the left is the fishing pier, which I’m standing on and on the right is the Ringling Bridge that leads to the center of town. I take so many pictures from here that I’m at risk of running out of views. Not this time because it’s a perspective I haven’t yet captured. It reminds me of the saying about Rome, only in this case all roads lead to Sarasota. That could be a metaphor for something else.

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It’s silly but I have an ongoing fear that I’ll run out of things to take pictures of. Nothing could be further from reality because the possibilities are infinite. Yet each time I go out I feel that fear. Maybe it’s just part of the process, a propellant for creativity. I compartmentalize it so it doesn’t take control of me but it’s always there. I can acknowledge it without letting it change my agenda. It’s a reminder that art and creativity are tangible and as such there is resistance to succeeding.

I think about these things a lot. That’s because I take the time to write about my images. That in turn causes me to explore my thoughts, motivations and ideas around images. Any time you do that it invariably leads to these questions; what is art, where does it come from, where does it lead? And in the end the answer is always the same, all roads lead to self discovery.

Sarasota Images

So perhaps the new perspective that I found for this area can be an allegory for self awareness. That’s my two cents on the matter.