A daily blog getting three entries in 15 hours? Wow, speak about compressing time 🙂
This morning I woke up at 3:00am, and instead of sleeping on, I decided to post the already processed image of Wednesday, believing that I’d be back in bed in no time.
Boy, was I wrong! Researching the history of the Song of the Day, “Just One Smile”, took me more than an hour, and by that time it felt like a good idea to take a shot on yesterday’s image as well. When I had finished that, it was ten minutes to six and that’s no time to go to sleep, I guess we can agree on that.
As a result I was out photographing at about 6:50am, the earliest I’ve made it in months.
In a city there shouldn’t be much difference between morning and evening light, and in fact I guess there ain’t, but everything else is different. In the evenings you never get the streets as deserted during twilight, but that is not the most important difference. What really makes it feel different, at least for me, is the inverse progression of light. Let me explain:
Twilight is great, but it’s greatest in a very short span of time, and in the evening you get that during the end. Therefore you’ve got plenty of time to “get into it”. Not so in the morning though. You begin with a pitch black sky, then it lightens up very rapidly, and before you had much chance to adapt, the best part is already over. On the other hand it simply feels good after a morning session. To arrive at work with a feeling of accomplishment is always a good thing.
So how is it for you? Are you a morning or an evening shooter? And if both, what do you prefer and why?
The Song of the Day is “Early In The Morning” from Eric Clapton’s 1980 double album “Just One Night”. For a sound sample I have to refer you to Amazon, but maybe you prefer this video on YouTube anyway.
There are 6 comments
Paul Maxim (2009-01-10)
A great question, Andreas, and for me it kind of depends on the season. Going out in the winter in the morning (before dawn) is tough. I mean, who wants to get their nose frozen 15 minutes after waking up? Generally speaking, it's always colder at dawn than at five in the afternoon.
But I like morning light better. It's also always less crowded - most people are not early risers.
So it's one of those "six of one, half a dozen of the other" things, I guess. Of course, around here (western NY), morning light is pretty drab 99% of the time. It's either cloudy or cloudy or cloudy....well, you get the idea.
Thanks for the daily images, especially those from up in the mountains. I honestly don't know how you manage to find the time.
Brian Small (2009-01-11)
I prefer the morning. In central Alberta the air is generally calmer early in the day which keeps the prairie dust down. With less dust flying around there tends to be less haze. Having said that I don't actually take many photos this time of year for the same reasons as mentioned by Paul. With daytime temperatures hovering around -20-30C I tend not to go outside unless I have to. Winter photography for me means processing and printing the photos taken during the other half of the year.
I have your blog bookmarked in my feed reader and always look forward to your posts. Thanks Andreas.
Rod Graham (2009-01-11)
I don't know if it was caused by the time of day, or your technique (exposure and post-processing), but the light in this photo has a "roundness" to it that I really like.
Andreas (2009-01-11)
Thanks. Yes, days are short, and I dislike even our daylight times. No hate, but I'd prefer days being longer. I envy you for your summer times though. Just another "six of one, half a dozen of the other" thing, as Paul puts it. On the other hand, there is hardly a chance to miss twilight 🙂
How I manage to find the time? No kids and an unhealthy dose of obsession, I suppose 🙂
-30C?? Eeek!! Well, when I was on the mountain lately for a sunset, it may have been -15, but with some good wind. I suppose that comes near, at least subjectively. I took off one glove for fiddling the cable release into its socket, and this definitely hurt.
As to the light: the street scene comes near, though it's certainly more vibrant, and the light on the bicycle image is completely constructed. This was in deep, solid shade, flat as the Netherlands and much less colorful 🙂 It's ISO 3200 at f4 and 1/15s. The shadow is from some street light or from light out of a window. Hmm ... in hindsight, I could have made it less blue 🙂
1228 – Early In The Morning II | Photographer’s Blog (2010-02-25)
[...] Song of the Day is “Early In The Morning“. This time it’s not Clapton like in “819 – Early In The Morning“, this time it’s John ‘Sonny Boy’ Lee Williamson. I have the song on disc 49 of “The [...]
Juha Haataja (2009-01-09)
You have been busy, with excellent results!
The change in the light at sunrise and sunset depends on geography also - here up north the change is much more gradual. Right now the daylight time is very short, but there is a long gradual change from night to day. In ten days or so we will have daylight from 9 to 16, what luxury!
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