Friday, August 23, 2019

A Stream of Lights by Townhall

I have had a notion to use a long exposure of car lights coming over the bridge by townhall. Two weeks ago, I actually went down there sans camera to check out the possibility. I found a spot which showed the bridge plus townhall and decided that 10 seconds would allow a car to traverse the length of the bridge.

Eventually, I returned with my camera and a neutral density filter that would allow me to slow the shutter speed and capture a long exposure.



I love the result ↑. The sun has just set behind me. It is blue hour, and there is a trace of pink in the sky. There are reflections in the river, which is also smoothed out nicely as a result of the 10 second exposure.

But! There are no car lights. At this angle and distance, I could see them, but the camera couldn't. Perhaps, I would have got something better had I remained there in that spot as it got darker, but I doubt it.

So, I moved closer to the bridge.


I like this ↑ photo too, but it was still not quite what I was after, so I moved right up onto the bridge.


This ↑ is closer to what I was hoping to get (in terms of light trails) although not from this perspective.

It is a combination of four photos to get enough light trails to be effective as traffic is not heavy here or wasn't on that evening.

I like all three photos from the shoot, and I think I will consider each of them when I make more prints to update my current selections at the two spots where I display my prints.


10 comments:

Marie Smith said...

All three shots are print worthy for sure, AC.

Marcia said...

I like the second one best.

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Fascinating the things you try...But I like the first one best, even though it isn't what you wanted to achieve.

Tabor said...

Wonderful!!

Barbara Rogers said...

You think of the most fun things to photograph...and look at these results! I like the first and last!

Vicki Lane said...

These are wonderful! I love the star effect of the street light, as well as the light trails--a great contrast between the constant and the ephemeral.

William Kendall said...

These are beautifully done!

Jenn Jilks said...

You find interesting challenges! Well done.

Mage said...

That last one is a keeper. It's fun.

Joanne Noragon said...

I think the first one is the keeper. The other two look "industrial/commerical" to me. In about a year, let me know which sold the most.