Night Shooting: West Ridge and Downtown

Went night shooting alone this time. Twenty below. First wanted to shoot one of the greenhouses. I've always been drawn to the green glow inside the snow-and-frost covered structures. I didn't get a good long shot, but some of my close-ups of the ice crystals came out:

f/11

1/45

40 mm lens (~60mm equivalent)

ISO 200

Show with a tripod and the white balance set to tungsten. I cropped this to a square because I wanted the three columns, each with a different ice pattern and a different balance between ice and leaves.

Next went downtown to try to shoot the frozen berries and frosty branches along the river. Got some okay ones, but on my way back to the car I noticed these two low steam vents (~8' off the ground) with the big stack from the power plant in the background:

f/22
15 sec
40 mm (~60 mm equivalent)
ISO 1600

I got a few okay shots, but then the wind on the ground and the wind up high blew in opposite directions and I got this one, which I really like. The steam blowing out of the frame in both directions really makes it. I haven't done very much to this image. It turned out well. Didn't go looking for it--just saw it on the way back to the car.

Night Shooting: Creamers Field and GI Roof

Went out for a second try at night shooting with Shadoe. We started at Creamer's Field and were surprised to find an early aurora. Shadoe advised me on keeping the shutter speed slow to keep it from looking like a blob:



f/1.8
6 sec
31 mm lens (~46 mm equivalent)
ISO 800

I was surprised by how well the camera captured it. The aurora was much fainter than this. Truly though, I have no interest in aurora photography. Other people can do it and I will look at their beautiful pictures.

We went from their to the GI roof. I wasn't interested in anything until Shadoe started taking shots of the big satellite dish. This one is kind of a mess (not easy capturing a person in the dark without a flash), but I liked the colors and I liked how it captured how dedicated and absorbed she is when she's shooting:

f/1.8
1/4 sec
31 mm lens (~46 mm equivalent)
ISO 1600

The snow is red because its main light source is the red light on the element in the middle of the dish. You don't notice it with your eyes, but the camera captures it. It you try to make this snow white, the colors of the background go crazy. Anyway, I like it. It looks a little unreal.

Night Shooting: Parking Garage

Went shooting at night with Shadoe and Allison. It was very thirty below. Went first to the parking garage downtown. We had to sneak in behind a car. On the top floor I found this fake owl hung from the ceiling to scare away small birds. I liked how it looked with the snow on its shoulders and East Fairbanks behind it:

f/1.8

1/60 sec

50 mm lens (~75mm equivalent)

ISO 1600

I shot this handheld, with the camera up above my head, and the focus and exposure turned out great. Not bad for a plastic $200 lens. The colors came out a little garish, which surprised me for a night shot, but I desaturated a little to make the scene look a little colder.

Went down one floor and looked south and saw people in their apartments in the Northward building. It was a cold and depressing scene (everything looks depressing to me when it's 30 below):

f/1.8

1/60 sec

50 mm lens (~75mm equivalent)

ISO 1600

I white balanced this and cropped it very slightly to make it straighter. I'm very happy with the original shot on this one. Two weeks later a woman jumped from this building but was caught and saved by firemen. Again, handheld. Very pleased with this lens at night.