Tag: night photography

August 12th – The photography was better, but I wasn’t.

Still pretty rough, and not really any better, I got out a little earlier and bumbled off to Chasewater to catch the sunset. Getting used to a new camera can be odd and the Nikon seems to have interesting habits; it doesn’t seem to do sunsets quite the same as the Panasonic, which tended to redden them, where as this one tends to pull out the pink aspect more. It worked better than I thought it had from the picture preview.

From there, I scooted back to Brownhills as it got dark. Some shots from Clayhanger’s railway bridge using a gorillapod allowed me to experiment and found that aperture priority allowed me to get the hash, sharp light pattern I like. That was a real discovery.

I was a lovely evening, and although I felt dreadful, I’d learned something, so it wasn’t a bad trip, really. 

And then there were the toads…

August 11th – I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m not very well. I’ve been off colour since the weekend and I’ve only got out for short runs; today a quick loop of central Brownhills just to get some fresh air after dark.

Still, it gave me chance to experiment with the Nikon a little more – none of these shots used a tripod, but handheld night mode on the camera. They’re OK but I’m not sure about the indistinct fuzz it makes of lights. 

Need to experiment another day when I’m well I think. Here’s to better days.

August 9th – Id been to a function near Burntwood returned at dusk. I thought it was a good chance to try the Nikon in low light.

It takes great pictures, but the image stabilisation is not as good as the Panasonic. You need a tripod. But I do like the images.

Not often I get chance to practice night photography in summer…

July 3rd – I was wiped out. I’d had to sit on the floor all the way back from London, and my back was aching, and I hadn’t eaten enough – but New Street, for all it’s faults, welcomed me home with it’s hard surfaces and contrasting lights; and 30 minutes later, a real Late Night Feelings moment at Walsall.

Home is where the heart and teapot are. Oh, that first mug of tea!

March 22nd – Minutes later, in the same ethereal half light, waiting at the Arboretum junction for a green light. I spend a lot of time waiting here, as the induction loop isn’t great at picking up bicycles. 

Still, it gives me time to appreciate the victorian gatehouse clocktower at the Arboretum…

March 22nd – We’re in that interesting time of year again now with very curious, half-light dusks. It felt dark, but wasn’t; the sky was really quite light, and it seemed the whole world was in some curious interregnum between night and day.

I have no idea if this is a real astronomical thing or not; but it’s great for those Late Night Feeling type photos, like these, taken from the junction of Hatherton Street and Wisemore in Walsall.

March 20th – Almost a lost afternoon. I slunk out of work to get another ride in around the canals to Wolverhampton, but suffered a mechanical failure. After a failed bodge fix, I grabbed another bike and escaped late, in bad humour.

A run through Bloxwich and on to the canal at Sneyd opened up to a great ride – up to Wolverhampton, back down the mainline through the Coseley Tunnel to West Brom, then back through Great Bridge, Toll End, Moxley and Darlaston. 

It was surprisingly grey, but not a bad evening at all.

The ride was fast, enjoyable and fixed my bad mood a treat.

March 14th – after a grey, murky day, a remarkably clear sunset over Aldershawe Hill and Springhill as I rode home from Lichfield down the backlanes. We’re entering now the spring period of great sundowns, and this one was gorgeous. I’m really loving this new camera, which really seems to perform much better in low light.

A great ride.

March 12th – I revised some old haunts tonight to try out the new camera on some familiar night shots. I’m astounded with the improvement in image quality of the TZ70 over the TZ60; the shots are far sharper and less noisy than I’m used to getting. Even the flats on the Watermead by Coopers Bridge are well defined and sharp.

They really let the unexpected beauty of Brownhills at night shine through.

March 5th – And on I pottered. The dark and dusk encroached, held at bay as ever it is by the electric night of Birmingham City Centre. The traffic, the lights, the people, the susurration of thousands of unconnected lives crossing in this place.

To be still here it like being flotsam on some heaving human tide. I never tire of it.

Again, all snatched, all handheld.