Tag: night photography

More Nikon Z5 night photos ~ pushing ISO

Posted in Aesthetics and Technique, PhotographyTagged , , , 6 Comments

It’s challenging to attain sharp photos when hand-holding a camera in low light, but I’m comfortable pushing the ISO on the Nikon Z5 to 6400 to force a faster shutter speed to avoid blur. Furthermore, the in-body stabilisation of the Z5 helps to ward off the worst of the shakes and vibration.

As I’ve admitted previously, I’m still guilty of using shutter speeds that are too slow at times! Maybe I’ve become too accustomed to large sensors and vibration reduction technology? It’s a good thing the Nikkor 40mm lens I had with me opens up to f2 ~ not super fast, but fast enough to allow more light to hit the Z5’s 35mm sensor in low light situations.

Sacred Heart Church – Nikon Z5

Between the black bars of the heavy gates, I positioned the camera, opened the aperture wide to f2, set to ISO 6400, and glanced at the exposure readout in the electronic viewfinder to see a measly shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. Knowing that a blurry photo was one tiny movement away, I braced myself with my arms tucked into my sides, held my breath, leaned against the fence, and left the rest to the in-body stabilisation of the Nikon Z5.

Apart from the softness at F2, the photo is acceptably sharp. I’ll always say that you can make great photos with all kinds of cameras, even film in tin boxes, but tools like sensor-based stabilisation do make some situations easier.

Red light/secure door – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens

When framing up this photo, I noticed that lights from passing traffic illuminated parts of the door and wall. With my back to the road and my eye pressed against the viewfinder glass, I waited until I heard the diesel-stutter of a loud engine that likely signalled a truck. I half-pressed the shutter button to focus. A few seconds later, the vehicle’s lights created red shadows and streaks. I timed the shutter click just right.

A night-walk with the Nikon Z5 ~ some thoughts on the quality of light

Posted in Aesthetics and Technique, Gear Talk, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , 2 Comments

A few nights ago, I was parked on a busy main road near the city, scoffing a greasy burger and fries and washing it all down with a lukewarm decaf. I needed to fill several hours while I waited for the Katy Perry concert to finish so I could ferry home a car full of tired and content family members. I’d packed my Nikon Z5 so I could take a walk in the cold and make some photos. Opportunities to wander unfamiliar neighbourhoods don’t present themselves too often, so it was a great opportunity to challenge my eye.

Rainbow rotunda – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens at 5000 ISO

When I use my older Nikon DSLRs, I temporarily forget how technically capable the Nikon Z5 is. Nikon were slow to enter the mirrorless market after a false start with the petite CX system, but their Z cameras are high quality devices that are a joy to use. I’m often amazed at how clean the Nikon Z5’s photos can be. The Z lenses have a reputation for being very sharp, with the Nikkor 40mm F2 being a good example.

Behind the shops

Photos made at night are often challenging to edit because the quality of light is so different to photos made during daylight hours. Where we might raise shadows to reveal more detail during the editing process for a day-time photo, it usually makes more sense to obscure the details in dark areas of a night-time photo where the absence of light defines the image.

In the photo above, the inky shadows obscuring the ground and part of the fence define areas of the image that are illuminated. Brightening the shadows not only weakens the impact of the photo but also makes little sense when part of the goal is to communicate the quality and feel of the night hours – the difference between light and shadow, the quality of artificial light running across metal and brick, and the darkness of the hour. If the versimilitude of the photo is important, as it is in this case, it’s as important to communicate the quality of absent light as it is to communicate how and where light falls.

Through the clouded shop-window

The Night Feeling ~ wondering and wandering in the quiet night

Posted in Philosophy and Photography, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

When the noise and dust of the day settles into quiet night, the mind turns inward. No longer are we distracted by the daily scramble. Night heralds a time when we have the opportunity to reflect on our day and ourselves.

A solitary light bulb glows dimly behind the window of a closed shop on a quiet street; leaves are rustled by a warm zephyr along a familiar laneway as distant stars shine above; during a long drive at night alone, the music on the radio synchronises perfectly with your thoughts and the world gliding by outside. Have you experienced similar scenes and feelings of melancholy, peace, serenity, deep thought, and reflection? If so, you’re likely familiar with The Night Feeling.

Crushed Ice 24 Hours – Nikon Z5

What’s The Night Feeling?

I came across a Reddit group called The Night Feeling last year. It’s dedicated to photos that encapsulate those kinds of scenes and feelings. I’d never heard it called that before, but I’ve certainly had those emotions and thoughts, especially at night. I even remember discussing this with a friend many years ago in relation to the sorts of emotions we’d sometimes experience when driving long distances alone late at night, with just the right piece of music playing in the background.

We’re usually so busy and distracted during the day that we forget how we’re feeling and who we truly are when we’re not serving others, doing our jobs, shopping, socialising, and so on. Being busy can help us endure tough times but we often forget to self-reflect and get in touch with who we are without the distraction and noise. When everything is quiet and night falls, we have an opportunity for self-reflection and thought. And there are certainly links between night and strong emotions and darker mental states. In the Mind After Midnight Hypothesis, for example, the hours between midnight and early morning are associated with disinhibition, risky behaviour, darker emotional states, poor judgement, and depression.

The end of the aurora – Nikon Z5

When the world is quiet

I associate certain kinds of scenes with the sort of calm, observational, slightly melancholic self-reflection that falls under the umbrella of The Night Feeling – walking through light rain on deserted streets that are usually busy; city lights reflected in water at night; a warm wind blowing through trees as I walk through a quiet part of town; an old machine lit up and no-one around. It’s as though the elements of nature announce themselves softly, emerging briefly through the haze of our urban environments to remind us that we need closer contact with our origins.

As nature reminds me that it’s bigger than any human-made urban environment and any trouble of my own, I feel that momentary sense of peace and calm ~ the moment that my own problems melt into the vast scale of the world and the stars beyond. In this expanded state of awareness, the small worries and quotidian tasks of daylight hours retreat and true self-reflection can occur, as one’s inner world becomes infinitely larger and more clearly focussed.

After the laundry is done – Nikon Z5 with Viltrox 20mm

A calm night rudely interrupted

Posted in Other Thoughts and Reflections, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

One warm night on the ourskirts of Darwin, we pulled the car to the side of a busy road. The marina had caught our eyes. I grabbed my camera bag in a hurry, threw open the car door, looked both ways, and made a dash to the other side. I could see the water more easily from there, but there was no wide walkway offering protection from the speeding cars, so I was stuck close to the concrete siding that formed the road’s crash barrier. The driver, beating even my swift movements, carried his drone and launched it with some excitement.

A calm night near Darwin – Nikon Z5

I’m not one for a tripod even though I have one. My photos tend to be opportunistic and made in short timeframes. It’s the sort of thing you do when you travel with other people who might not have the patience to wait for just the right kind of light. Given the situation, the Nikon’s 35mm digital sensor and sensitivity to low light proved fortuitous ~ I didn’t need to push ISO beyond 6400 and I could use slow but usable shutter speeds if I held the camera still enough and held my breath momentarily. Just as well that the Z5 also has inbuilt image stabilisation to help out in these situations!

There I was, busy making photos of the boats and the water reflections and the hazy orange-hued moon. My friend was busy controlling his drone remotely and flying it further out over the marina and the moored boats. Out of the dark, we heard someone shouting gruffly at us: “What the F*** are you doing? Are you F****** spying on us?”. I’ve encountered this kind of thing before and I’ve no doubt that the audible buzz of the little drone really grabbed the attention of the marina locals. As another stranger once said in relation to my mate’s little flying friend: “Every moron has a drone!”

A lank-haired young man on a scooter, chest puffed out and eyes wide, flanked by his eager buddy, rode up to the edge of the road about 20 metres distant. Luckily, I’d finished, and my friend had just landed his drone only moments before the gruff accusations. The young scooter-using macho-man attempted to impress his surfer-type colleague, who’d now perched himself lazily over the crash barrier to observe: “If you don’t put that F***** thing away, I’m gonna F****** shoot it down!”.

In these situations, I can get a little fired up, especially if I think I’m not doing anything wrong. We were on a public road near a publicly accessible marina. In this heavily surveiled world of security cameras and manufactured fear, people sometimes overreact. And a drone flying overhead may provide the paranoid with an excuse to resort to threats and violence, especially if they have something to hide. Of course, we all know that only morons have drones, so it’s no surprise that someone would take offence!

We started back to the car under the watchful eyes of the two young aggressors, offering them jaded jibes on the way: “What are you gonna shoot it down with? Go ahead and try it, mate!” These are the kinds of words that older men say to younger men sometimes, having undergone the trials of similar testosterone surges once upon a time. But nowadays, we pack our cameras and drones and wonder at the world…