I recently took my first night photography class on Mare Island where I was able to experiment with longer exposures — up to 7 minutes. I’m not very patient, and when you are standing there in the dark, 5-10 minutes can seem like an eternity, so I’m not sure night photography is going to be a huge part of my future. However, I really enjoyed learning about longer exposures and getting an intro to topics like light painting, etc. Two things I really liked were getting some star trails or night sky appearance in the photos, and using existing light to create interesting shadows and reflections.

Notes on exposures accompany the photos below. Photo 1: Taken at 8pm with a 30 second exposure at F8, and passing car headlights.

Photo 2: Taken after 8pm, 30 second exposure at F8 with passing car headlights.

Photo 3: Taken at 8:30pm 2 minute exposure at F8 and existing light above the door.

Photo 4: Taken at 9pm. 7 minute exposure at F8. Should have been an even longer exposure, probably around 10 minutes — I upped the exposure a bit in Lightroom.