• Feeling isolated? You're not alone.

    Join 20,000+ people who understand exactly how your day went. Whether you're newly diagnosed, self-identified, or supporting someone you love – this is a space where you don't have to explain yourself.

    Join the Conversation → It's free, anonymous, and supportive.

    As a member, you'll get:

    • A community that actually gets it – no judgment, no explanations needed
    • Private forums for sensitive topics (hidden from search engines)
    • Real-time chat with others who share your experiences
    • Your own blog to document your journey

    You've found your people. Create your free account

Photography after dark... Why do I beat my head against a wall

Au Naturel said:
Back in the day of silver-based photography, images like this would be close to impossible without high-speed film, a very wide aperture, and rock-steady hands.

Ah, the joy of pushing High-speed Ektachrome to ASA 400 and shooting at f/1.4 for 1/30 second handheld! And it would be super grainy, have a very shallow range of focus, the colors would be off, and there would be a tiny bit of motion blur. I liked to call it "available darkness photography."
Click to expand...

In 2005 I photographed a stage performance in a dark bar, no flash because it wasn't allowed... On a film camera, I forget what kind of film speed it was, the results were awful, admittedly at the time I had very little experience with photography at all, especially such a difficult situation

And one from last summer, does this count? A couple dancing very briefly as they passed a music stage at a night festival, at the time I didn't get the photo I wanted, I wasn't prepared for it... I did get this photo which I first thought was a failure (because it wasn't what I wanted), but after further examination I quite liked it in a different way

Inglewood Night 10.webp
 
Last edited:
Sherlock77 said:
In 2005 I photographed a stage performance in a dark bar, no flash because it wasn't allowed... On a film camera, I forget what kind of film speed it was, the results were awful, admittedly at the time I had very little experience with photography at all, especially such a difficult situation

And one from last summer, does this count? A couple dancing very briefly as they passed a music stage at a night festival, at the time I didn't get the photo I wanted, I wasn't prepared for it... I did get this photo which I first thought was a failure (because it wasn't what I wanted), but after further examination I quite liked it in a different way

View attachment 89127
Click to expand...
I think most of the blur is because you were focused on the closest thing to you. The thigh of the person in the foreground is quite sharp. Probably a very wide aperture which gives a thin depth of field. There's some motion blur in the moving things because of a slow shutter speed but again, since that thigh is sharp, there wasn't a lot of camera shake. Kind of an interesting photo.

Was it an auto-exposure? All my old 35mm cameras had a built-in light meter but the exposure was manual.
 
Au Naturel said:
I think most of the blur is because you were focused on the closest thing to you. The thigh of the person in the foreground is quite sharp. Probably a very wide aperture which gives a thin depth of field. There's some motion blur in the moving things because of a slow shutter speed but again, since that thigh is sharp, there wasn't a lot of camera shake. Kind of an interesting photo.

Was it an auto-exposure? All my old 35mm cameras had a built-in light meter but the exposure was manual.
Click to expand...

I was sitting down in a chair, just listening to the music, but always try to be alert for anything (ie. photography)... I am known for steady hands, I was just trying to capture "something", ended up with this...
 
Your photography looks very good to my eye, especially the one with the older woman sitting by herself in front of a restaurant? while someone is going up the entrance. A thousand words!

I'm lousy at night photography, maybe except moonlit landscapes on a tripod.
 
I dabbled a little with night photography but only out of curiosity, I never ended up with any pictures that I really liked. Except this one:

Space.webp
 
You’re constantly beating your head against the wall about something. It’s a form of egoism. How about just start enjoying your art and quit with the jealousy and self-conflagration. You’re an excellent photographer. Everyone thinks so but you. So, shut up and get on with it already.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom