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10/28/09 Nighttime Tree

10/28/09 Green Light

10/28/09 Red Light

It was fffffreeezing out, but I had a lot of fun experimenting with some night photography. I think the damp streets from the snowfall today had a nice effect.

Here's what I did. I hooked my camera up to the tripod and I set my Canon to "manual". I set the aperture at F29 (the lowest setting on my camera, curtains almost closed [see below]), and the shutter speed to "Bulb." The longest I held the shutter open was for 10 seconds and the shortest was about 4 or 5 seconds. I basically looked at the first frame I shot and adjusted accordingly.

Aperture: basically the curtains of the camera. This setting dictates how much light will be let in. F4.5 means the curtains are wide open. F29 means the curtains are shut to a sliver. The small number means lots of light, the big number means not much light. That is confusing to me so I always think of the number representing the curtains themselves. F4.5 means only 4.5 square feet of curtain is showing and accordingly, F29, 29 square feet of curtains showing.

Shutter speed: This setting dictates how long the curtains remain open. "Bulb" means the aperture is open as long as I have my finger pushing down on the shutter. Some common shutter speeds include 1/125, 1/1000, 1/10. These are fractions of a second. 1/10 is a slower shutter speed, 1/1000 is a faster shutter speed. More logical.

This was so fun, I'm excited about exploring night photography further. I only wish I decided to do so in the summer!