Project365 - Pavillion

Introduction

I certainly enjoy shooting at night. The dark sky provides a backdrop that makes colours pop ! And Calgary has plenty of things that are beautifully lit up at night. Here is an example of one of those things. This is a Pavillion in a park, about a block from our home.

 

The Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 24-105mm f/4, Tripod - Manfrotto 190CX Pro 3

Another nice & easy setup. Although I wanted to keep the sky dark, without introducing a lot of noise. So I couldn't set the camera on Shutter priority or Aperture priority (why isn't there an ISO priority), so I stayed fully-manual to keep the ISO lowered. That meant shutter speed & Aperture were my adjustments - hence the tripod !

The Photos

I love how the pavillion's lighting created a spotlight effect ! Must remember to thank the city for lighting my shoot for me...

I like the drama that is created by the multiple spotlights. The highlights creating splashes of colour against the night sky.

So I freely admit that this photo went through post-processing, but only to crop & straighten it - no other adjustments. I'm still trying to decide of I like it straightened better than on the diagonal.

Lessons Learned

This shoot was about the "vision" of the shoot. I knew I wanted the sky to stay very dark. I would have a much more dramatic effect if I did. But at the same time, I didn't want to introduce noise by dramatically raising the ISO. So this shoot was about finding the balance point.