Sometimes it is not post-processing what takes the time, no, it’s finding a Song of the Day. I searched my collection for the keywords “dark”, “fear”, “shake” and many more, and then I remembered a CD that could fit, an album mostly in German language called “Nachtmahr” (nightmare) by Meret Becker, and searching for Meret Becker on YouTube I found her incredibly beautiful “Stella Maris”, a duet with Blixa Bargeld of “Einstürzende Neubauten” (and up to 2003 “The Bad Seeds”), and so I ended up ordering five “Einstürzende Neubauten” CDs via Amazon. And still no Song of the Day. Oh well!
Returning to my collection I finally found it: “Dark Road” from Annie Lennox’ new album “Songs of Mass Destruction”. It seems to be the hit single on the album (I can’t tell, I don’t hear radio), because Amazon features the video. Alternatively you can see it on YouTube. It’s Annie at her best.
So now, what’s it with this image, you ask? Oh, I say, it’s not one, it’s two 🙂
When I went home today at 7pm it was completely dark, there was a demonstration for human rights on the streets, lots of police, and it took me some time to get into a creative mood. I took some images, mostly of shop windows, graffiti, etc, all very dark, and then I came by this house entrance (some house, not mine actually). It was extremely dark and, using the Sigma 10-20 at f5.6 and ISO 1600, I ended up with shutter speeds at 3.6 seconds. I can tell you, that’s not easy to hold 🙂
I took two shots, both deliberately shaken, one more so, one less, and later in Photoshop I combined the two exposures. Interesting, how much color a camera records, even when the naked eye fails to see it any more. But that’s how eyes work, and that’s one reason why I love night photography.
There are 2 comments
Bill (2007-11-09)
Yeah, the music search can be very time consuming but it's also fun and has become part of the whole creative process for me. And for that I owe you a big thank you for giving me the idea in the first place.
The Annie Lennox lyrics are a perfect fit for this image. Just for fun I did a search of my own library and came up with R.L. Burnside's Shake'em On Down which is on A Ass Pocket of Whiskey. I would love to hear the story behind that one.
Oh, and the image is pretty cool too.
Thomas (2007-11-09)
I wouldn't even have tried to hold 3.6 sec... But obviously it is worth a try.
You managed to even have the light pattern on the walls point to the visual centre of the photo, the "light at the end of the tunnel". Impressive.
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