Adventures, Mistakes and Mischief: Night Photography Stumbles

One casual morning while sitting at my kitchen table lazily sipping my coffee, I started reading a photographer's blog post on their work ethic and how they organize at least two to three photo shoots per week.

Jeeesssshhhh......my comfy bathrobe starting feeling slacker-esque.

Guilt and spontaneity all kicked in at once, so I grabbed my phone and messaged my brother-in-law about being a subject for a night photography session. Matthew is always up for an adventure and he didn't even hesitate at the fact that we would be wandering around the beach in complete darkness at low tide.

All thumbs up and off into the dark we went.

Spanish Banks Low Tide

The Night Photography Session: How It Went Down

• For once, it was easy to find a parking spot but ironically had trouble paying for it. The wind was starting to add a chill to the air so we just hurried onto the beach and hoped that parking patrol would not be around for the next hour.

  
  

• We charged onto the low tide sea floor without good boots and I cursed out loud when my left boot was ripped off my foot. Sigh...facepalm moment when realized that I did not bring my headlamp.

  
  

• We found a relatively sandy spot and set up the camera gear. I blinded Matthew with my Lumen Cube light....ooops... so tried various angled spots to get some cross light.

  
  

• Cursed a little more for not packing my headlamp as I tried to work the camera settings in one hand while trying to hold up my phone flashlight in the other. I only dropped my reading glasses three times.

• I managed to get the first shot off while simultaneously dropping my lens cap into the wet sand. Naturally, I stepped on the lens cap while looking for it and burying further into the muck.

• As I worked with Matthew to get light on him with the city scape in the background, I will humbly admit that I have a new respect for film directors. Matthew and I both kinda laughed when I asked him to look out into the dark, which to be fair is kinda weird.

The Day's Lessons

This evening's photoshoot humbly reminded me that I really need to carefully think about the environment that I'm heading out and pack according to the elements. The irony is that I'm a backcountry ski tourer, so I'm well versed at accounting for all my equipment before heading out the door. I guess I'm still working out the camera kit and the pre-shoot ritual before I head out the door.

As for the actual photo, the usual things still come to mind: a little grainy, slightly out of focus and I'm still messing about with f/stops and exposure triangle. Just not enough artificial light to really take advantage of getting the city lights in the background sharp while having a half-frozen brother-in-law stay still for about several seconds.

Ah well......next time.