NIGHT SHOT AT THE PORT

Port of Newport, Oregon, March 29, 2024

This photo is from the same night as yesterday’s sunset image, except it was shot after dinner. Ports and harbors had always a great fascination for me and I love to watch the business around ships, boats, or on the docks.

I guess it helped a little bit having a bottle of wine with our seafood dinner to handhold the camera and make a sharp picture at 1/13 of a second 😉.  And this still required an ISO setting of 12800. A few years ago this was unthinkable with any previous camera I owned, but the technology for noise reduction we have at our hands today, while shooting and in post process, is just amazing.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 62mm, 1/13 s, f/4, ISO 12,800

DUBUQUE NIGHT OF LIGHTS

Dubuque historic Star Brewery building at Night of Lights event

Tonight was the inaugural event of Night of Lights in Dubuque, Iowa. Businesses and private homes in and near Downtown Dubuque were asked to leave the lights on for a few hours. Painters and photographers tried to capture the beauty of this event during the early night hours.

I was out of town the last couple of days and returned late from a business trip this evening. With not too much time on hand I drove straight to the old Dubuque Star Brewery building, a historic landmark next to the Mississippi River. Stone Cliff Winery has a wonderful tasting room in the historic brewery building and their wine garden was nicely illuminated. I guess all possible lights were on and with the location about ready to be closed, I had nobody walking through the scene during a 20 seconds exposure time for this photo. The metal sculpture in the foreground, “Flowing Connections” by artist Matt Moyer, is part of the annual ART ON THE RIVER exhibit, located along the Mississippi Riverwalk. I wished I had more time to check out some other locations in town, but maybe next year…!!

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch,    @ 24mm, 20 s, f/18, ISO 100

LIGHT PAINTING ON THE PRAIRIE

Prairie at night, Mines of Spain Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

Last night the Dubuque Camera Club had its “end of the season” meeting. Quite a few members were brave enough to defy the heat and came out for some night shooting to the  picknick shelter at the Butler trail. This part of the Mines of Spain Recreation Area is mostly open prairie and allowed for good social distancing. I had fun with some light painting on the prairie grass and trees. 

Despite some light pollution from the city of Dubuque, the stars were visible and as I framed one of the shots an airplane approached the DBQ Airport with full lights on. Photography friend Pamela Brandt assisted with a second light source (thank you again Pam!) and at the end some pictures were on the memory card that I liked.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @16 mm, 30 s, f/4, ISO200, Manual mode

27TH FLOOR

Chicago downtown

An exhausting week lies behind me. The annual trade show of the printing industry, PRINT 17, is history but took all my attention, hence the lack of any blog posts this week. All what I can offer is a few views from the 27th floor of my hotel room in Chicago. I always ask for a high floor and was lucky again to have a room that allowed for shooting the skyline of Chicago. With Willis Tower (the former Sears Tower) on the left, Soldier Field stadium, and Navy Pier on the right, it doesn’t get any better. The only difficulty for a shot like this is the fact that several sheets of glass were between the lens and the subject. This really prevents a high quality image, but I was aware of this limitations and nevertheless not unhappy with the results.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch, @ 35 mm, 13 s, f/8, ISO100,

VEGAS AT NIGHT

The most interesting time in Las Vegas is at night, with all the lights, shows, glitter, and glamor. The strain of sensual perception is hard to deny. Joan and I had a great time the night before the wedding, just walking around, having a drink here and there, and shooting some pictures... I didn’t bring a tripod for proper camera support and wasn’t able to experiment with real long exposures, but I had fun chasing the light at night. It helps to use a lens with vibration reduction, and except for the picture with the light and water show in front of Caesars Palace, all photos were made handheld. Exposure times were between 1/4 s and 1/60 s and in most cases I took multiple shots, sometimes leaning against a wall to stabilize the camera. You can click on each image for best viewing.

NIGHT GLOW

Last night it was the first time that we managed to be at the Great Galena Balloon Race over in Galena, Illinois. We arrived in time for the famous night glow of the balloons. Photographing balloons at night was a first for me and it was an enjoyable learning experience and some “candy for the eyes”. Having a tripod is a must for a halfway decent photo, unless you like to use blur as an artistic mean of expression, which IMHO is a valid way to go. As with many events where people gather by the hundreds, if not thousands, keeping the picture free of clutter (other people, golf carts, picknick coolers, etc.) is difficult, but something you need to have an eye on.

I went out with the Nikkor 24-120 mm, f/4 attached to the D750 and this was not a bad choice. The glowing of all balloons at the same time is announced over loud speakers but you only have a few seconds to make your shots. The zoom lens allows for quick changes.

Back home and in front of my computer I try to analyze where the mistakes were made and what really worked to tell the story about this event. I enjoyed this challenge very much and hope to have another chance to try it again soon.

On our way back to the car we saw this constellation of “heavenly” bodies above the road and trees. The moon was behind a thin layer of clouds while Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible despite the light pollution from nearby cities.