Photo-A-Day #1946

Today my brain got pretty fried because I was watching demos for most of it. It is soul suckingly boring to train someone to demonstrate then watch them do the demonstration over and over. It is just so easy for the mind to wander. When that happens I have a notebook with me to put down my ideas so I can get back and try and concentrate on the task at hand which is to observe, take notes and give good feedback. Some people derive a sense of satisfaction and joy at training other people and seeing them progress. I thought I would be that person. Not so much.

Over at Geek Dads Weekly, Daniel has done a little rearranging and also posted our latest show. Episode 26: Amazing Times.

The photo tonight is a little outside my norm. It is a long exposure one. I found that when we got to the Cape it was pretty late and when that happens the only thing to do is shoot something inside or something outside. I try as often as I can to get an outside shot and because it was dark it was going to be a little tougher. I did not have my tripod with me. I should carry my new Gorrilapod tripod for the DSLR that I picked up at Savers for $2.99. Yeah, just $2.99. I had never been in a Savers before and most stuff in the electronics area falls in the category of pre-1970s. However, someone donated the Gorrilapod and that is a $30+ item, so I got it for a steal.

Okay, so not having a tripod posed a bit of a problem. I thought I’d try and get a long exposure of Martha’s Vineyard across the water. Not a good idea as there was no light and I’d have to do something like a 5 minute exposure to get it. I decided against that and instead set the camera on the wall by the beach and aimed it down the beach where the Casino and the British Bear Company are located. At the midway point of the photo there is a group of kids and you can actually see them pretty clearly. How’d I get teens and pre-teens to stand still for 30 seconds? They were playing some sort of Freeze Game, so I lucked out. some things I probably would change if I did this again. I’d set the ISO as low as it could go because of the long exposure. That way the image would have less noise. Also this was the second image I made and in between the 1st and second image I touched the lens, thinking I had the lens cap on. So I think that there are a couple of smudges that make it look like there is a dust storm in the air near the light on the right and somewhere in the middle of the image.

In all I like the image, I love when lights get that starburst effect. I like the car lights like neon lines racing along the street. I like the eerie look of the beach at night. I also like how the curve of the wall leads your eye. Do you see anything that you like form the image? Dislike?