My first evening photo crawl with a great local photo group started out in high fashion. We met at a local pub/coffee shop in Denver, got a quick route briefing, and then headed out. I began the night by making the traditional expansive images of highway lights. However, my eye began to be drawn to the details along the footbridge we were crossing. Maybe it was my heightened focus or an unconscious interest in civil engineering. Either way I found a composition that inspired me. It was a fun evening and I look forward to joining them again next month.

I took my Flip MinoHD camera with me, and made a quick video. It is in my standard directing style, but this time I added a little ‘Holiday Bop’ to it.

[flashvideo file=http://www.hossedia.com/Video/Exposed_At_Night.mp4 /]

Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VR II
Gitzo Traveler

Processing:
Capture (1 image)
Adobe Raw (Temperature and fill light adjustment)
Nik ColorEFX Pro (Darken/Lighter Center)
Nik ColorEFX Pro (Tonal Contrast cut highlights/midtone contrast, boosted saturation and shadow contrast)
Photoshop (resized)
Nik Sharpener (Output for display)
LightAsMagic.com

If you are interested in the photo walk, or some great workshops you can find more information about them here:

www.illuminateworkshops.com

Tip: When working at night I have found that I primarily shoot in Manual Mode and set my shutter speed to ‘Bulb’. I will make an educated guess at the time, make the image, review (chimp), and then adjust. If you are taking a 5 sec exposure, don’t worry if you accidentally shoot for 6 sec. To overexpose a 5 sec exposure by 1 stop, you will have to shoot a 10 sec exposure. Even with a generous margin for error while working at night with long exposures, you still might want to take a stopwatch. Also, you will need a steady tripod and a cable release. The cable release is optional, but it always use it.