Over the last few weeks the winter temperatures have been mild, which is handy indoors when you are trying to save fuel costs, but it has meant a long run of damp, grey, gloomy weather. I never get inspired or motivated to go out in wet, grey conditions in my free time so at this time of year, when it's dark so early, I go out at night instead or deliberately leave the house just when the sun is falling from the sky on this good flat earth. This is one of the benefits of living in a large city and I have been fortunate enough to have encountered and savoured so many during this long existence.
All photos click full screen
The time for vampires to stir and climb upwards... or foxes to rouse from sleep.
So, brushing the cobwebs, spiders, and layers of dust from my scarred broad shoulders I too began to stir and slither out from my hovel to experience the dying of the day.
And it is always a fine sunset when it does not burn the skin of a human being. A time of dreams.
This first night reminded me of old film noir movies set in the London fog of yesteryear. Very atmospheric.... yet seen by night, instead of being grey and dismal... all is now colour, shadows....
.....menace and mystery... (As these photos are constructed to fit my 17 inches by 10 inch screen (43 cm by 25cm) they are best viewed full screen in a darkened room to get the full effect.)
....and I've always loved night walking.The seaside town of Gourock from Lyle Hill here... So many decades of different, exquisite, blood fresh memories...like driving under the old Rotherhithe Tunnel running deep beneath the River Thames , then walking back under it again a few days later via the pedestrian en-tranced wormhole with 'Sarah' at night... living the life 1970s style... exploring UK wide city parks, streets, and interesting period districts/ old buildings, long demolished and forgotten now, in the free travel days of our youthfulness...
...and even now, from 16 to 70, I still get a kick out of walking or cycling at night... a misty evening here with visibility down to 40 feet or so...
perfect for night cycling...edgy and slightly dangerous...the ground beneath two slender wheels...
Despite poor distance visibility mist does help you see slightly better, close up....being white.... all white moving objects stand out in fact...
...while also adding a pleasurable layer of distortion....
...between the seen and the unseen. Like the gap between stars...
So I do enjoy wandering in Night Town...
... and always will...
It's also more of a challenge for photography....
pushing the limits of what a camera can and cannot capture...
and it also sharpens the senses...
tapping directly into our primitive superstitious past.... when humans... not that long ago... were both predator and prey... especially at night...
instinctively more alert... watching every single shadow... our race collective antenna still brilliantly attuned to pick out any shapes that move... or hostile noise... wary of threat or sudden attack...
As I myself homed in on my chosen target of this evening... every sense tingling with mouth watering anticipation....
No hesitation allowed... straight in for the kill....
" Could I have a doner kebab please and a can of coke?"
Yes! The mighty modern hunter tracks down his reward...in the shape of meat trapped on a revolving spear.... carefully sliced off in an age old carving ritual... in front of the hungry gathered local tribe.
10 comments:
Some great atmospheric photos, they made me shiver even though I am cosy indoors. A great improvemnt on your blog with your new lettering, it is far easier to read.
I was loving the warm winter weather, wet or not... and then it went bloody cold again! bah! So now I'm rugged up to the eyeballs every evening, shivering and wondering how to get my house warm enough to stay alive! I tried lighting the new woodburner the other day but it just filled the room completely with smoke (more misty than on your walks) so I've had to ring them and ask them to come out to see what's wrong :-(
Loved the Gourock photo - I love seeing towns at night. That was the only good thing about my annual visits to the emergency ward of Bradford Royal Infirmary with my asthma - they were right up above the city and you could see all the lights across the valley (Bradford is in a huge hollow) all night from your hospital bed!
I also love walking at night in mists - so long as it's warm. I don't find it eerie though...
Thanks Rosemary,
I picked a larger font size as I had less information to write for this one. I may keep it though.
Great night photography.
Hi Carol,
I've been toasty warm in my three season sleeping bag so far. I also got a cracking, (and cheap) padded regatta jacket for a Christmas present that's really warm as well- my new TV watching favourite item to wear. My Dad was in Inverclyde Hospital years ago and that's the same. Top floor ten level high stuck on a hill and great views over Greenock and the Clyde estuary below at night. I was wondering about why your wood burning stove was not keeping you warm.
I guarantee if you were walking in certain areas of Glasgow at night you would find it eerie.
Cheers Anabel.
Lovely photos! One thing I've never understood, even with heavily populated areas, your skies seem darker to me. Here in the USA, in Georgia, the lights seems to really light up the sky, making it difficult to see stars. On some of our streets at night, I've noticed cars without headlights, the lights so blinding, the drivers won't notice until they get a bit further off the main drag. For crime reasons, I suppose. It's a pity. Once again, beautiful shots!
Hi Kay,
it depends what setting I use on the camera as to how much ambient light is captured. that's where the art comes in as my particular camera is not good with low light levels. Also reducing the photos down in size from the 3000 original to 800 for the blog can cause 'smearing' as you can see in some of them where grey and black meet so I sometimes darken them to hide that. It's the challenge to capture night photography that makes it so interesting. Primarily I'm out for a walk and to enjoy myself so I use the auto capture method which is fast. If I used the more technical long exposure shots it takes far longer, often requires a tripod, and breaks up walking too much. So in some of the shots (not most of the mist ones though) I darken the background to hide 'smearing.'
Wonderful, moody, ethereal images, love the ones of dark shadows and lights looming out of the mist
I do enjoy a good night walk. A blast of colour after several weeks of daytime winter gloom and grey skies.
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