2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (9:00 p.m.)

I'm happy to say that my attitude and my photo improved greatly since posting my 8:00 p.m. photo. The difference? A freaking tripod!

I knew that I needed a tripod for photos at night, but apparently I needed to have a few frustrating experiences before I actually took action. I borrowed a tripod from Katie (thank you!) and it really made a world of difference. I still need a lot of work on nighttime photography, but you can see for yourself that this is a much better photo than the last few I've posted.

Here's what 9:00 p.m. looked like in Santa Monica last night:

Steve and Clancy came with me and acted as my photography assistants. I had another hard time setting up the photo exactly like it was at 9:00 a.m., so it's not as perfectly lined up as I would prefer. But I'm learning to let go of that perfection and embrace the imperfection that comes with learning- and living in the moment. If I ever do anything like this again, I'll be sure to take better notes of my equipment and exact location.

Here's 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (click to enlarge):

Five things I noticed between the two photos:

1. Another photo where you wouldn't know there was an ocean, not to mention the Santa Monica Mountains off in the distance. 
2. I love the addition of the cars driving down the California incline at 9:00 p.m. and how there's only one lone biker at 9:00 a.m. (when I thought there would be a lot of traffic)!
3. The palm trees are such a focal point of the a.m. photo, but really don't do that much for the p.m. photo. 
4. The bush that you can't even see in the a.m. photo has grown considerably since I first photographed this at 9:00 a.m. back in May!
5. Lights everywhere at 9:00 p.m.- lining the walkway in Palisades Park and up the ramp to the Idaho and Montana, on the cars headed down the California incline and all the lights in the distance. 

I'm definitely going to fool around more with the tripod (and actually get my own) and taking photos at night. I've got more work to do before I feel like I can say I'm even halfway decent at nighttime photography. But I'm up for trying!

Here are a couple of outtakes from this moment in time. The first one was taken from Steve's cell phone since he was looking at my photo on the camera and comparing it to my 9:00 a.m. photo viewed on my iPhone. It was too good of a moment to pass up. And the second photo is experimenting with a super slow shutter speed. Thanks to Cyrena for helping me figure out what settings I needed for this effect that I've always wanted to try, but never knew enough to actually go for it!

Cyrena's photo

And here is Sarah's