La Morte de la Jour (the death of day)

[Dzerzhinski46]

Dear all,

I just posted a new article on my website about night photography. I would greatly appreciate comments or questions concerning it . I am hopeful that I will recieve some useful criticism about my article and writing. Fire away (but tastefully please!) . Please remember that I am not trying to advertise my services (never has been my intention), just hand out useful advice to other photographers. ;)

Dzerzhinski

Here's the link, sorry for the inconvenience:
http://rosemarinuswine.blogspot.com/

[walterick]

How about a link?

[SmartWombat]

How about a link?

Simple.
Click on his name to the left of his post.
A menu drops down and on there is a link to his homepage !

[walterick]

Thanks ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[walterick]

Dz,

An honest response:
I think your writing stlye is fine; I used to edit my high school newspaper and to these dreary eyes at 2am everything looked fine - gramatically, copy, and style. I think you're writing is great. The technical aspect of the article I found a little redundant - this coming from a intermediate/semi-pro with about 5 years' experience - but I'm not sure who your target audience is and I'm sure beginners would find the info you posted very informative. The one piece of info that did shock me was that you were able to dictate exactly how many stops night is darker than day Very interesting!

Content: there's 2 points I would add of it were my piece: you say we're creatures of the day, and by and large you're right. But look at how we all "come alive" at night. It's when we "go out," go to clubs, go on dates, go hit the town. We "party" at night and many such actions during the day time (drinking, for instance) are considered faux paux by day. I think you may add that it's our love of night that helps to create many interesting night photography opportunitites.

The only other content I might add is about shooting the stars and shooting subjects under the light of the full moon. It takes some experimentation to get either of those right, but they're what I shoot most predominantly at night. Give it a shot.

Everything else seems up to par! Good work.

Rick

[Asylum Steve]

"With the advent of fall, photgraphy takes on a new persona. Just as trees change with the season and present new faces to us, so photography presents new oppourtunities. Not least of these is night photography..."

Your writing is quite lyrical, but correct me if I'm wrong: I wasn't aware that night photography was seasonal. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that your impying that one can only shoot at night during the fall.

I don't get it...

[Dzerzhinski46]

"With the advent of fall, photgraphy takes on a new persona. Just as trees change with the season and present new faces to us, so photography presents new oppourtunities. Not least of these is night photography..."

Your writing is quite lyrical, but correct me if I'm wrong: I wasn't aware that night photography was seasonal. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that your impying that one can only shoot at night during the fall.

I don't get it...

Dear Steve,

I guess I was getting a little overly dramatic about night photography ! But to explain, during the fall, you have several advantages you don't have in the summer. One, night falls earlier, so you can make your shots at six in the evening instead of ten in the summertime. Two, less foliage to get in the way of sky shots, houses, and people, etc.. I might be able to elaborate on these, but I can't think of anything else. I would say, that yes, fall does not offer any distinct advantages over summer or spring for photo opportunities. So, in a roundabout way, I'm wrong. (sob, sob !)

Thanks for the input, I greatly appreciate it.

Dzerzhinski

[Asylum Steve]

Thanks for the explanation! I figured it was something like that you were hinting at. I suppose it depends on where you live. Obviously, Florida (where I am) is much less seasonal than other areas of the country, and the palm trees stay the same year round...

[Dzerzhinski46]

Dz,

An honest response:
I think your writing stlye is fine; I used to edit my high school newspaper and to these dreary eyes at 2am everything looked fine - gramatically, copy, and style. I think you're writing is great. The technical aspect of the article I found a little redundant - this coming from a intermediate/semi-pro with about 5 years' experience - but I'm not sure who your target audience is and I'm sure beginners would find the info you posted very informative. The one piece of info that did shock me was that you were able to dictate exactly how many stops night is darker than day Very interesting!

Content: there's 2 points I would add of it were my piece: you say we're creatures of the day, and by and large you're right. But look at how we all "come alive" at night. It's when we "go out," go to clubs, go on dates, go hit the town. We "party" at night and many such actions during the day time (drinking, for instance) are considered faux paux by day. I think you may add that it's our love of night that helps to create many interesting night photography opportunitites.

The only other content I might add is about shooting the stars and shooting subjects under the light of the full moon. It takes some experimentation to get either of those right, but they're what I shoot most predominantly at night. Give it a shot.

Everything else seems up to par! Good work.

Rick

Dear Rick,

I am perhaps a little pompous in stating exactly how much light is in the sky at night . I actually went out and shot a roll, and determined (admitedly very crudely) how many stops down it is. I mean very crudely. My target probably in hindsight is beginner photogs. It is my response to the significant lack of good solid photography manuals and aids available on the Internet. My soapbox if you will.

You're right Rick, night somehow allows us to drop our thin facade of normality (or perhaps more correctly, our decency ) and party. Our desire for night photography might lie in our desire to see humanity in its raw, uninhibited form. Night and day, Jekll and Hyde.

Thanks for the thoughts Rick.

Dzerzhinski