Recent technological advancements in digital photography have opened a new frontier for photographers — photographing the landscape at night.
API staff instructor, Mark Bowie, an expert on night photography, led an intensive 4-day and night workshop based in Old Forge. He introduced students to the many possibilities for capturing details simultaneously in the landscape and sky — vibrant images full of color and atmosphere. In classroom sessions he covered how to determine exposures, focusing in the dark, painting with light, and how to shoot diverse subjects – from wild landscapes to cityscapes to natural subjects lit by artificial lights, which the Adirondacks offer in abundance. Students photographed Orion reflected in the Moose River, as a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. They shot dark clouds streaming over Brown’s Tract Inlet, with the surrounding tamarack bog glowing green, lit by nearby streetlights. They shot a dock and gazebo, their lights glowing warm beneath the Big Dipper set a rich blue sky. At 11pm, they photographed spiders in their webs, backlit by the lights from a nearby restaurant.
The possibilities at night are limitless. That we can capture the nocturnal beauty in images is amazing. If you’d like to learn how, watch for our future night workshops and seminars. And watch for the release of Mark’s second e-book on night photography, NIGHT EXAMPLES: Images, Concepts, Techniques, set for release this summer.
