10-9-18

I headed north on this day to attend a meeting north of Medford, OR.  The meeting wasn’t everything I had hoped it would be, so left half way through.  Considering I had some free time on my hand I thought maybe I would try and find some locations for a few night shots.  This past summer was terrible for any photography due to all the smoke from nearby forest fires, so now that it has cleared up, opportunity was knocking at the door.

I first went to Lithia Park in Ashland.  I love this park and it is a great place for fall photos.  The leaves are just starting to turn, so maybe it will be great in a week or two.  But I had never thought about it for night photos.  I found a couple of spots and gave it a try with some pretty good results.  If nothing else, it woke me up and got me excited for more night photos.

I then went to a couple more locations and took several different photographs.  Some were better than others naturally, but at least it was fun getting out and trying a few things.  My last stop was a place I had always wanted to photograph in the early morning hours but did not ever consider a night photo.

I parked nearby and because I didn’t know if it would any good or not, I left my camera gear in the car and walked the short distance to “The Library.”  I immediately went back for my gear as it was lite up wonderfully and it looked better than I had imagined.  Like I said, I had always imagined I could get a nice early morning light photo here, but this was even better.

So as I was looking for a good angle, I saw the statue and was surprised.  I had never noticed it before when I thought about photographing the building.  Apparently I need to look a little closer in the future.  The setup was quick and easy with nobody around to get in the way.  I did just a little light painting to lessen the orange reflection cast on the shadow and also to light up the name and address number on the front of the building as it was in pretty heavy shadows.

This turned out to be a very pleasant surprise and glad I came at night instead of the morning.  I don’t think the morning shot I had envisioned can come close to this.  Nice ending to the evening of shooting.