Goodnight Germany Pavilion

It was a dark and peaceful night. Humidity was enemy number one. People were just the way I like them, scarce. A voice bellowed in my head. It was Barrie Brewer’s* and she was telling me, “Take some photos, you big dork!” I reached into my camera bag and retrieved my brand new shiny blue itsy tripod. I raised it high into the air and proclaimed, “You are not the boss of me!” and then set up my shots.

I took full advantage of Manual Mode and set the ISO to 100 which makes for richer color. The aperture or f-stop was fully open at f2.7, allowing in as much light as possible and a softer focus. The only specs I changed was the shutterspeed.

This first image was shot at 1/2 second or .5 as it shows in the camera.

There’s great detail everywhere and those people in shadow are just backlit enough to see they’re there.

The second image had a longer shutterspeed of 2 seconds.

The longer exposure loses detail in some of the areas under bright lights. It’s very difficult to try and fill in washed out images if not impossible.

For me, a happy medium would have been a 1 second exposure.

Remember, long exposures require stillness so bring a tripod with you or rest your camera somewhere flat like on a trash can or table. Gently depress the shutter button so as not to move the camera. I take it a step further and hold my breath while doing it. Another option is to look into your manual and see if a remote control is available for your camera.

*Barrie Brewer appears in this blog courtesy of her sister Zelda, although neither of them are aware or are being paid royalties.

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