Night photography; my first dip into this style was about one month ago. There has always been a desire to try and see what happens but the opportunity just has not presented itself. As is turns out I had to create the opportunity and my brother was here to come along so we hit the road at midnight to see what came out of the dark. My brother made some suggestions and I had some ideas of my own. Our first stop was out near University of Portland.
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| ISO100 f16 30 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
In the shot above I waited for some time to get cars going by just at the right time to make trails in the shot. We had some fun and headed out for the next location to see what we could find. The Saint Johns Bridge is an iconic bridge with its Gothic architecture and green paint. Shooting it at night was going to be fun with all its lights and tall towers.
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| ISO100 f13 20 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
Placing the tripod in the middle of the road at 1 am in the morning was a little scary but I liked the perspective view this gave down the road. Again we waited to get the timing right on the cars coming through the frame. Our next goal was a view of the bridge itself and we looked through the neighbor hood to find just the right spot to shoot from.
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| ISO100 f10 30 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
The key to the lighting in this shot was the fact that I was part of the way up a short driveway for a little extra height and my brother was standing and holding a large peace of cardboard up to block the light from a nearby porch light. We made a few shots very quietly so as to not wake any of the people up in the house very near by. My brothers idea was the waterfront near OMSI so we headed down in that direction. I parked the car in there parking area and walked to the edge of the river at the top of the bank for some starting shots.
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| ISO125 f10 25 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
With the longer exposure I got a lot more light reflection on the water surface. All the colors of the city come popping of the page with the contrast of darkness. Next we headed down to the water surface on the dock near by.
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| ISO800 f13 10 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
Thinking about the fact that the dock would move I setup right between two large steel support columns to help stabilize the tripod. I also hung my camera bag from the center column of the tripod. All this and the very calm night made it possible to get this shot. I think the dock stretching out across the water makes this shot. Zooming in I made a shot of the water that looked just like a painting.
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| ISO800 f13 10 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
For my last shots on this blog post I have a comparison between slow and fast shutter speeds and the difference it makes on the water. We had so much fun shooting these shots and I learned so much about it. I cant wait to get back out there and shoot some more.
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| ISO800 f13 8 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
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| ISO800 f13 2 second exposure Nikon D7100 18-200mm VR lens Induro c113 carbon 8x tripod Induro SA12 ball head. |
As the exposure time gets longer the water gets more silky and the transitions of the colors on the water become more blended. This will not be my last trip out at night for sure. I look forward to the next one.
