Lights in the Night, part One

Just remembered! Derelict Thursday Challenge tomorrow. Please tag ALL entries derelict Thursday.

This is something of a little experiment, for me and I appreciate that it'll be just too dark for some tastes. It does not reflect my mood, I hasten to add!

After my lovely shiny stars and tree of yesterday, it just getting up into the Spotlights, tonight I wanted something quite different. Rain's incoming and neither am I nor my camera waterproof and so I leave that genre to ducks, wherever they make quack. Ducks with cameras - hmm, that's a new one!

I hadn't, as yet, tried the new Sigma macro on a tripod, or at night. I expected good things. A solid cloudy sky, so no stars or much ambient light, except a heavy iron-red streetlamp hue, hanging heavy.

I tried more obvious shots, of more obvious subjects and they were OK. I then saw the headlights that come down the hill miles away and they seemed to have stopped. Open the shutter. This is the bright light on the left. It then left the faint snail-trail through the pic, toward the village. The fringe of grass on the nearest ridge adds texture and depth.

On editing, one of my two conversions to black and white revealed the upward light in the centre. These may have been security lights at a school. Trying to emphasise the contrast, whilst keeping the highlights from burning out, whilst still having only a tiny sphere of tonal range (dark orange) made this quite the editing job. Which is good, of course - we all need the practice sometimes. I also tried differing crops and ratios.

Ultimately, I quite like it and for a subject that initially (or subsequently!) really wouldn't excite anyone, it hasn't come out too badly.

With many bemoaning dark evenings and blips from around the house, I'm rubbing my hands and looking forward to these nights. The more variety I can muster, especially locally, the better for me - and no doubt for you too, my wonderful, loyal Blipping friends.

Lens is Sigma EX 105mm f2.8 macro OS