Week three of my Commercial Photography course last night was a more hands-on affair than the first two weeks as we started to light a small ornament with a single light, stepping through all the possible modifiers that could be used. It was interesting and informative, and the kind of structured exercise that I’d be unlikely to step through otherwise, but one that is important for learning about light. All the shots were taken using the instructors camera on a tripod, so on the way home, to justify the weight of my camera bag, I took a few shots in Ranelagh as I waited for the Luas.
This was the last of the shots I took, and probably my favourite frame. I was photographing outdoors at 10pm on an October evening, which is not the optimal time for taking outdoor shots by any means. If you want that night time look it’s better to go for dusk or slightly after when there’s still a bit of colour in the sky, rather than the pure black sky I have here. But that was the time it was and there wasn’t much I could do about that, and surely it’s better to take a photo than not, so I made the most of what was around.
Because it was so dark, I had to bump the ISO way up on my D300. Normally I start to get a little uncomfortable with ISOs over 800 because of the noise (even on the D300) but this wasn’t going to be a commercial shot, nor one for the portfolio or for competition, so I just pushed it to 1600 to get a reasonable shutter speed.
At anything other than the widest aperture, that gave me pretty slow shutter speeds, so I opened up to f/2.8 and settled on a shutter speed of 1/40s. Because there were different light sources in the frame, I manually exposed before the Luas ever arrived, rather than using aperture-priority mode. That, at least, ensured a consistency in the exposure of the platform, and that the camera wouldn’t be confused by the headlights of the arriving tram.
As the tram pulled into the station I took three frames, and this, with the Luas almost filling the frame as it slowed, was my preferred one. I like the motion blur on the tram which hints at the fact that it is still moving, and is distinguished from camera shake by the fact that the platform and stationary objects around the frame are relatively sharp. The light in this shot is all ambient, but there’s a nice softness to it that appeals.
At the other end of the line I disembarked and took a taxi from the Sandyford stop towards home, as is my usual Thursday night commute lately. As the taxi made its way onto the Leopardstown roundabout the driver and I were both surprised to see a Luas making its way in traffic up towards the M50. Initially we thought that it must be on its way out to the end of the new extension for some testing, but as it approached exit 14 of the M50 it headed for the north-bound lane, so I guess maybe it was destined for the Tallaght terminus at the end of the red line. Obviously the fact that the green and red lines of the Luas don’t meet in the city centre causes some logistical headaches for the operators of the Luas – you would think its a big operation to transport a Luas by road.
Chase Jarvis says “the best camera is the one you have with you” and last night the camera I had with me was my best camera, so with my ISO 1600 still dialled in I was able to grab a photograph of this unusual sight out the window of the taxi (as you can see here – click on the image for a larger version in a new window). In the course of the rest of the short journey home the taxi driver revealed himself to be a photography fan also and promised to visit my blog. So if you’re reading Derek, I hope you’re happy to be able to see the shot that you helped me get by slowing down at the right moment!
love this shot. and what beautiful lighting. nice one.