I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.
- Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, 2005
When I ventured back into photography some years ago, night and low-light photography has been my favorite field. I was taken by the majestic colors of dusk and dawn and the unseen colors of night. There was a time when I used to go out very early in the morning before the sun is up and around mid-afternoon to wait for the golden hours.
Night and low-light photography requires patience – you may not always get it in just one shot. A photographer has to contend with the difficulty of achieving focus, the presence of flares, and incorrect exposure settings. Add to that, the reciprocity failure that every film user like me has to put into consideration. This is the challenge that I like about this field of photography…
It has been quite a while since I ventured out into the night to take some photographs. The long artistic drought ended when fellow photographer Al Michael and I decided to visit the Marcelo Fernan Bridge to take some pictures in the night. We also hoped to capture the sunset but we were quite late…
The sun was already dipping when we arrived and add to that, the sun was covered by clouds.
When there was little light left in the sky, I set up my tripod underneath the bridge (there is a public park under the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in both Lapulapu and Mandaue sides) and took some shots. This shot turned out to be the most worthy…
When we were done in the park, we decided to go up. This is the end of the bridge connected to the main road going to the economic processing zone. The light trails will lead you there…
Before we called it a night, the old bridge on the other side of the island became envious, and decided to show off her beauty. She sent sparks towards us, twice!!!
The first one was quite weak…
Trying to outdo herself, she exerted all her efforts, and eventually, she succeeded.
I hope you now understand why I love this field of photography…
ako base kuya mark? hehe.
whoaah! so love your pics. i could say this is your niche kuya mark. di nga madali kumuha ng pic in low-light kaya alam ko challenging to. and what happens when a person takes that challenge? he becomes one of the best! cheers!
huwaw! ang galing at ang ganda!!
hmp..(bitter) di ko maintindihan kung bakit mo gusto yan..eh ang dilim dilim tsaka daming ilaw!
seyusli ang ganda talaga ng night photo pero di ko pa sya nasusubukan ng seryosohan…at gusto kong matuto! gusto ko! di ako nagpaparinig…gusto ko lang talaga!
hehe. ako nga base. btw, gi-add tka sa YM. hope we could chat some other day. and perhaps meet before i leave cebu.
bai, gue adjust diay nimo ang zoom ring sa last 2 pics…. unsa man to , going zoom or going wide?.. nice effects bai..
ang galing nito, NP.
ni-try ko rin ito once, at very low shutter speed. nakakainep!!! di bagay ang tipo ng photography na ito sa tulad kong walang pasensya.ü
gustong gusto ko yung kuha mo sa tulay. pang-grandfinals ang dating!
God bless.
Wow! Ang ganda naman po nito! Grabeh! Peborit ko yung dulo. Nyeh parang hindi na yata matapos tapos yung ganitong klaseng comment ko. Hahahha.. Ang galing kasi eh.
Ako po bago lang sa photography pero dami na rin ako binabasa books tapos puro practice ako. Kapag nakaluwag talaga bili na ako ng sarili kong SLR. Nai-inspire mo tuloy ako lalo Cool. Ganda nito.
From the first photo down to the last, i see a gradation from serene stillness of the MF Bridge Lapulapu side to the wild luminous effusion in the Mandaue side. I was taken aback a bit by the wildness of the Mandaue side – the effusion/extension was quite wiry to my sight it’s reminding me that nighttime could bustle with movement and life over and above still waters. A bit feeling nostalgic about the bridge of my college years…Apir kapatid…
haller mark!
excellent jud!..first pa ko comment maski kapila nako og browse your blogsite….
nahan kaayo ko!!!!
nice! exciting nga talaga magoutdoor picture picture pag gabi..hehe..the results are unpredictable but oftentimes, breathtaking..
grabe ang ganda nito.. sana matutunan ko rin yan kahit konti lang.
Hindi ko alam kung anong magandang anggulong kuha.. pero ikaw para bang nakikita mo na kung saan magandang kuhanan..galing
okey yan.. salamat
iba talaga kapag hilig mo ang photography. Hinahanap mo talaga ang perfect angle. Tama ka, mahirap talaga magcapture ng night views pero maganda ang kinalalabasan ng mga pictures. Obviously mangingiyot ka eh. Thanks for sharing the beauty of the night.
Yung sunset talaga ambilis niyan. I remembered last saturday na na-notice na maganda ang sunset. Mabilis ako pumunta sa open site pero ng dumating ako lumubog na siya. Minsan inaabangan mo ang paglubog ng araw, you expect na maganda siya pero hindi lahat ng araw maganda ang paglubog. Gaya ng buhay.
i’m not adept in photography but i know you took wonderful shots.
the second pic is my favorite.
by the way, the book you mentioned in your comment seems interesting. hope to get a copy of that.
you are correct about patience in photography Mark, i love low light photography too, my only problem is that I sometimes forget my tripod
Great shots again, and wow, I am so impress with you, it seems you are posting more these days. My favorite from this set is the 2nd picture, the one taken from under the bridge.
ha-wow-wow-wow!
galing ng mga pictures. parang it will lead you to somewhere…
Nice flares! And I admire you more as a photographer for coming up with these shots with a film camera. Tama ba ako? I remember reading here that you are using film camera. Or siguro bumili ka na ng DSLR.
I had a film slr pero hiniram sa akin at hindi na ibinalik
Now I have to make use of a compact camera and just play with its features.
Superb pictures kapatid! Minsan nakakagawa din ako ng ganyang effect sa camera ko kaso wala lang magandang background, hihihi..
Nakabalik na ako! Nahanap mo ung video ko sa launching ni rev?
langyang launching video na yan, sayang saya ako sayo….
Haha! nakita ko na kapatid… Nakup, pati pala music, kinopya mo ha… Hehehe… Dance on!
wow…nakakawow naman talaga…pangposter na ito ah………mahirap nga ang night shots….patience lang….good and marvelous shots bro kudos!
cute cute ba… kung indi familiar sa akon ang bridge matyag ko sa iban na nga lugar. hehe…
ang ganda naman ng tulay parang gusto ko ganyan sa kwarto ko… hehehe
nice photos, mark! you are one gifted fellow.
Hi Mark,
I don’t know much about photography, but I feel that these are stunning photos. The one of the bridge should be framed.
I love the Rosary page in memory of your Grandmother.
Pano ba nakukuha ung picture na nasa last two?
galing galing naman, sana may cam din ako kahit pinaglumaan mo lang… ay bawal magparineg!
nakanaks. parang professional ang kumuha!
nakakainlab naman talaga yang bridge na yan..
nakakainis at nakakapikon na ang talent mo sa pagkuha.inggit ako.wahhhhhhhh
Wahhhh! Bravo Mark ! two thumbs up… when will I be this good?
-,’…ang ganda namn ng mga photong kuha anu ba magandang kuhanan at anu yung style ng pagkuha ng isang bagay para maganda yung kalalabasan ..kahit simple lang yung object panu ba mapapaganda yun ???help namn po oh sasali kase me sa photojournalist sa schol namin eh….