This week is ‘night photography’ which is fortuitous as I’m getting home from work in the dark since the clocks went back. The prompts haven’t been too inspiring to me, but I’ve done them anyway of course.

Abbreviations you may come across during this post. AFAC~ airy fairy abstract concept. AAFP ~ annoying as F-bomb prompt. CBBP ~ completely bloody barking prompt.  HDBS ~ hippy dippy bull****. AWP! ~ Absolutely wonderful prompt!

Also- there may be swearing.

Day 318 ~ Brighten. ~ Today is the first day of Picture Style “Night” for the week. All week you are going to be practicing night photography.  Night photography is tricky and may require patience and practicing with various settings.  It is also helpful to shoot in RAW format and use a photo editing program. You may have to shoot with a higher ISO and not worry about the noise in the photo. Today’s word is “brighten”. For my subject photo, I took the shot during the blue hour and then adjusted my blacks and contrast to make the flames appear really bright. Taking the photo when it wasn’t fully dark outside allowed more of the subject to be visible. Don’t worry about perfection this week. Be patient with yourself and just hone your skills.Most importantly….Have fun!

I am no stranger to night shooting, so my pictures are not shot with a high ISO and a heap of noise. It isn’t THAT difficult for heavens sakes! Though as I couldn’t really make out what the prompt lady’s photo was – some lumps on stick that were on fire I think – I think it might have been harder for her. Brighten is a bit of a meh prompt (unless you have lumps on sticks I guess). I shot the lights that brighten my conservatory, a bit boring but it fits the prompt.

Day 319 ~ Vintage. ~ Find a vintage building, the darker the night, the better.  Take along a friend and some bright flashlights.  Your camera on a tripod is a must!  Settings: ISO 100-200, aperture f8-f11, shutter speed 30 seconds.  Wave the flashlights to illuminate your subject.  Because you are using a long shutter speed, it is not necessary for the entire building to be lit simultaneously. Take a test shot and adjust as necessary, beginning with adjusting shutter speed.Have fun!

Pfft. AAFP. I’ve been at work all day, it’s cold out, there’s no vintage buildings on our housing estate and my friend is in Spain. Doing vintage my own way today.

Day 320 ~ Prompt-Free. ~ Prompt Free Days often bring to mind the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side.”  Some days, we feel restricted by the prompt, but on other days, no specific prompt makes us feel lost by having no point of departure.Think about these prompt free days as a check-in as to how this project is changing you. What do you notice that you would have overlooked previously? What small moments in you day now feel bigger and call to be documented?Today is a blank canvas for which all of the other prompts have prepared you. Keep our eyes open and have fun!

I took myself off to my shed, and fannied on with flowers and water and sparkles. It was fun, for once.

Day 321 ~ Simple. ~ Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.  I myself have a hard time with ‘simple’.  I tend to overthink and overdo everything!  Night photography can be simple and fun! Why not try some cityscapes!  Remember to be prepared for the elements in November when you take your photograph.  I always make sure I take a flash light because trying to see my camera buttons can be tricky in the dark.  Remember safety too and take a friend if you are venturing downtown as I did. I made sure my camera was set on manual.  My settings were ISO 200, f11 and I used a 30 second exposure in order to let all that beautiful light into my camera.  I also manually focused my lens. I made sure my camera was on a tripod and I also used a remote to take the picture thus avoiding camera shake. It  would be so lovely to see the city lights of your home town. Or just take a picture of something simple at night!  Already that sounds complicated…

Well Mrs. Cocktail~Dress I’m not shlepping off down town at night on my own, so I’ll make do with a shot of the housing estate I live on. These houses always remind me of the song Little Boxes which lots of different artists recorded as the theme tune for the TV series ‘Weeds’.

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same

I can vouch for the ticky tacky.

Day 322 ~ Moon. ~ We’ve been asking you to stay up late this week with our Night theme and the timing is perfect to give Lunar photography a try with the full moon tomorrow! Not sure where to begin?  Here’s a starting point for your settings: An aperture between f/5.6 and f/11 with a shutter speed of 1/250sec – after all the moon is moving at 2,288 miles per hour! A low ISO and don’t overexpose –  the moon is brighter than you think! For a camera phone – check your settings newer models have a night mode or an app that offers a 2x zoom. You will also want to lower the exposure. Another trick is to take a photo through a pair of binoculars or a telescope. If the weather is unfavorable or your bedtime is too early no worries – consider capturing what your night looks like!

Well this is unnecessary so an automatic AAFP, we already did the moon back on day 266, but hey~ho, moon it is. Except it isn’t today really. Knowing the weather conditions were cloudy with a chance of meatballs, and the chances of the moon being visible on the day I needed it were slim to none, I pre-empted the scenario and took pictures of the moon on a previous night this week. It was still cloudy, but do-able.

Day 323 ~ Music. ~ This one is hard to share! I don’t do well with high ISO and noisy photos – which is completely personal preference only.  My boys have a habit of playing their music before bed. Usually, they play separately in their own rooms, but it just so happened that this night Gavin went into Blake’s room and they were playing together. I didn’t want them to see me and ruin the candid moment they were having so I snuck down and did my best to capture this priceless moment without them knowing. I wasn’t completely prepared and wasn’t paying much attention to my camera settings at all because I was so intrigued with what they were doing. I tried fixing as much noise as I could post-processing, but I do like the moodiness of the photo.  (They still don’t know that I have these photos)!  

It’s probably best that they never do. That aside, we’ve had worse prompts n’est ce pas? When I say we, I mean me, or I even, and am throwing in a little French for diversity. Anyhoo we are in a musical house so this shouldn’t have been too hard but it was because there’s too much to choose from, from stereo equipment, to guitars and percussion instrument, cd’s, vinyl and ye olde cassette tapes. I took a few different ones and in the end Phil decided he liked this one best, for obvious reasons.

I quite liked this one myself!

Day 324 ~ Locks. ~ This week we are taking photos at night.  Not always an easy feat!  If you are photographing a building or any still object, using a tripod and a slower shutter speed is the easiest way to get enough light in to take your photo.  
This is an iconic hotel in downtown Ottawa.  It is situated right beside the first lock on the Rideau canal. I am also sure there are many locks on doors and windows in this hotel.  Locks come in many forms, padlocks, canal locks and even locks of hair.  Or you could lock something down.  Take a night photo of whatever locks you can find today.

Is it me or have there been a let up on the AAFP’s this week? I’ve been in my shed today, and it has a hefty padlock, so I waited until it got dark and took some shots of it.

And that’s the end of night week. On the whole no great problems so am winning at nights!

I’m trying to get beyond my ‘can’t wait til this is over’ mentality and bump up some enthusiasm to do a good job. So gird your loins dear reader, I’ll be back next week with Rainbow Week!

(Kill me now! 🥴)