Dark

1/200 sec f6.3 175mm ISO 20000 – the metadata. 20,000 is pretty much in a dark room despite our star is on a stage. It does not help that I am using a telephoto lens setting. But the image that resulted is reasonably sharp. Hey! Technology! It saved me. Over and over again, I shot. The images surprised me. It could have all failed. As poor as the conditions were in the auditorium, I managed to get shots, a whole lot of them. Not every camera is capable. So, I guess the photographer matters too. The right tool for the job was invaluable. I guess some of the trial and error of other events worked out in this instance and on this special occasion.

I will emphasize once more – ISO 20000 is impossible without modern digital image technology. Magic.

Dusk

Today’s challenge – shooting the sunset from a moving car when that picturesque sunset is behind you. Of course, stopping the car is not an option. I should have… stopped. Colleen took the camera. She shot at the rear mirror. Nice! Not quite focused… but certainly passable. She does not get the concept of manual focus. Considering that there were no lessons, she did a very nice job. It was actually well composed and conveyed the idea very well. Me? Out the front windshield… the challenge is getting a sharp image while moving at 70mph in low light. The camera compensated by boosting ISO automatically. My presets in ‘program’ are set to boost ISO in low light. Film could never do that. But it’s digital! Ah! I love science when it works!

Noise

I know the occasion. It was a birthday celebration for me cooked up by Jules and Lisa. They took me on the dinner cruise around Manhattan. It was a chill April evening. The light was fading quickly at dusk. Jules was seasick. Ha! It was a slow-moving cruise ship. Oh well.

Noise? I don’t have metadata on the images. I assume it was the Nikon D70 but I could be wrong. Low light, you get noise in the picture. Noise? It is the graininess and lack of definition in the image. Jules and I look strange as a result of the low light and noise. The skyline of Manhattan hides noise quite well. There is little detail expected and the far away subject easily hides the lack of detail. Graininess is not an issue.

Sometimes you accept imperfection in the face of the memory the image invokes. It was my birthday cruise with my favorite daughter.

Heartbreak

Cute!! It’s worth a double exclamation! Walter, the cat was one of three that came for kitten tryouts. Unusual! Usually, you don’t get to tryout a kitten. But, long story short, Walter was here on tryout to see if he was compatible with Nutley and to see if he could break Nutley out of the doldrums. Cute! Nope, failed!

Low light. I have my cameras set to auto ISO. After you get blurred shots in low light, auto ISO saves you many a time. The camera keeps the shutter fast enough to avoid blur from a slow shutter speed. Yes, “noise” in your image is the tradeoff. No, I don’t notice it enough to be bothered. It is worth the shot you get. Sharp, not blurred. Ok!