Night Photography at Red Rock in Nevada
It's always a good time to get out shooting with my good friend and teaching partner Gabriel Biderman. While we were out in Las Vegas for WPPI 2013, we managed to grab an evening out in the desert near Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Sigh.. the park is closed at night. But the shoot must go on! We found some roadside nearby that was spectacular. I put a Google Maps embed at bottom of post if you want to shoot in the same place.
ISO 200, f/7.1 @ 8 1/2 minutes
Nikon D700. 14mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 200, f/2.8 @ 40 seconds
Nikon D700. 14mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 200, f/2.8 @ 80 seconds
Nikon D700. 14mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 200, f/7/1 @ 6 1/2 minutes
Nikon D700. 14mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 2000, f/2.5 @ 10 seconds
Nikon D700. 105mm
Triptych
ISO 200, f/2.5 @ 2 minutes
Nikon D700. 105mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 200, f/1.4 @ 1 minute
Nikon D700. 50mm + Silver Efex Pro
ISO 200, f/1.4 @ 1 minute
Nikon D700. 50mm + Silver Efex Pro
Night Paper #8 FILM: Falana Fox on the 56th Floor in Manhattan
Just got back some processed film! Here are two shots from Falana's shoot back in February.
I love them both for different reasons.
Mamiya 7, 43mm lens
2 mins @ f/8 + light painting
ILFORD XP2 Super
LOMO Belair X 6-12, 58mm lens
2 minutes @ f/11
Fuji Acros 100
69th St Transfer Bridge Revisited
Five years ago, Gabe and I had our first night out shooting NPy together at this location.
Two nights ago, I had the pleasure of revisiting this place with Erik Ward and Dan O'Neil, two guys who also met around five years ago and have been doing Urbex together ever since. Cool guys, very fun with which to shoot.
I must admit, one of my favorite NPy photographs I have ever shot was at this location and I was loathe to encroach on my personal enjoyment on its happy memory. But I approached it with an open mind to experiment and apply all that I have learned in the last five years. Great decision :)
Here is the image I hold dear from back then:
May, 2008
Mamiya 7, 43mm, f/16 @ 12 min
Ilford XP2 Super, 120
I remember Gabe shooting for much shorter times and wondering why I was exposing so long. I am not sure I knew what I was doing, but instinct told me to expose for 12 minutes. In hindsight, I knew I wanted the transfer bridge to stand out and since it was at least 3 stops darker than the correct exposure for the rest of the City, I let it burn...
This lesson has stuck with me over the years. Upon returning, I wanted to test the theory again and shot two different exposures just to see what happened:
March, 2013
D700, 14mm, f/13 @ 2 minutes
March, 2013
D700, 14mm, f/8 @ 2 minutes
I think they are both successful for different reasons. The former has the qualities of all the light sources and shadows. The latter is more of an artistic statement about the relationship between the foreground and the background.
Moving on... here are some more shots & experiments from the evening:
Night Paper #8: Falana Fox on the 56th Floor in Manhattan
My favorite image from the shoot
We were fortunate to borrow a little time in a beautiful apartment space near 30th St in Manhattan, all the way up on the 56th floor, facing downtown.
The scouting photo where the Freedom Tower was unobscured by clouds.
During our scouting mission, the sky was clear and a gorgeous view of the near-finished Freedom Tower was occupying the view at the foot of the wedge of Manhattan Island.
Last night, however, the weather was a mix of drizzle, low clouds rain and sometimes not rain. I do like shooting night photography in adverse weather simply because I like the challenge of making something beautiful out of what people typically call "shitty weather" (grin). Clouds and water make for great movement and reflections.
So we set the lights, metere, put aside two film cameras for later in the shoot and were ready for our beautiful model, Falana Fox, who is also a burlesque performer in NYC.
Here are the rest from the shoot. It was very hard to choose just these:
Want to see more NIGHT PAPER? Read more about the project and see the gallery of images.
Presentation at Grand Central Apple Store 2/28 about NIGHT PAPER
I am delighted to announce that I will be speaking at the majestic Apple Store in Grand Central on 2/28 from 7-8pm. All are welcome and registration is not required.
"Photographer Matt Hill Presents, “Night Paper: From Thought To Shot”
February 28, 7:00 p.m.
Learn how iOS and OS X have enabled cut paper artist and photographer Matt Hill to create his powerful, surrealistic body of work. "
Learn more about the event at apple.com/grandcentral
Learn more about NIGHT PAPER
See my gallery of images
I hope to see you there! --Matt
Night Paper #7: Heather Whatever in a Snowy Brooklyn Backyard
I was happy, since I envisioned at least one snow shoot in the series. Fortunately, our brave soul, Heather Whatever, agreed that a snow shoot was a great idea!
For this project, I made a timelapse while cutting Heather's cut paper fashion. Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:
And now for my favorite images from this shoot:
Night Paper #6: Indoors with Bombazeen Bean and Gymnos Alitheia
This is an experiment that was so good, it's an official shoot. The models, who graciously volunteered their time and talents, were Bombazeen Bean and Gymnos Alitheia. Thank you! First things first, deep thanks to Mabel, my lovely PA and girlfriend, and to Sharon Radisch who was my photo assistant on this shoot. Without the two of you, this shoot would only have been a shadow of what it was.
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Night Paper #5: Rockaway Beach
This Wednesday past, on the full moon, Gabe, Sylvester, Mabel and I spent a brisk evening on the beach at Rockaway. Having previously seen Sylvester's panoramics from when he was volunteering, we decided that the beauty of the repeating shapes from the concrete supports for the now-missing boardwalk was of such beauty that we were simply compelled to make art in that scene. Of course, we got to see the continuing efforts to clean up and rebuild Rockaway on the way in, and seriously, it's still not good there. My heart goes out to those displaced, and I hope that they find housing soon, and perhaps their new homes.
On to the art. I decided to roll the dice and continue the Night Paper Series. Our brave soul, Sincerely Y Ours, came ready to bare all and dress in paper when the temperatures reached the freezing point.
Here are my two top favorites:
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And one portrait I just couldn't resist taking:
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You can see a little more from this shoot here.
Night Paper #4 - Dumbo (NSFW)
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This next shoot involves a second night of shooting with Gymnos Alitheia. Originally, we were scheduled to do this on the heels of the Long Island City shoot, but he was feeling under the weather, so we postponed. Luckily, we encountered a street fair! (grin).
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Night Paper #3: Rainy Rooftop in Williamsburg (NSFW)
Last Friday evening, I completed my third shoot in the Night Paper series. Deepest thanks go to the very courageous models who braved the high-60′s temperatures post-rainstorm atop the 11th floor of a building in south Williamsburg. One was Clara Coquette, a fantastic and talented local burlesque dancer and the other wishes to remain anonymous. You were both amazing, and I thank you. Also big thanks go to my assistant and girlfriend, Mabel, for making many important details happen effortlessly. Mwah!
Here are some favorites from the shoot. More after the jump!
Here are test shots from the fitting:
