Night Shoot

On Saturday, July 25th, I met up with fellow photographers Jeff Tamagini & John Tammaro for an sunset/evening shoot around the Christian Science Mother Church complex in Boston. After meeting up at Bukowski's Tavern we headed to the CSMC reflecting pool and fountain to prepare for sunset. As the groups of parents and children played in the fountain to get in those last few minutes of fun as night approached, I concentrated my attention to the reflecting pool and church.

With the moon making an appearance in the warm light of sunset behind the Church, I elected to shoot from multiple angles to give myself a few different compositions. The shot on the left was just as the sun had just fallen behind the church, while the shot on the right gives more architectural details.

Both of the shots were multiple exposure HDRs processed in Photoshop and Photomatix.

With the sun and crowds gone, we had a short amount of time to get our fountain shots completed before the fountain was shut down for the night. Using a Sigma 10-20 I was able to get my camera into the fountain to give the photos a little something extra.

Shot with the Sigma 10-20mm: f22, 30 second exposure

Shot with the Sigma 10-20mm: f22, 30 second exposure

After looking through my shots I decided that this fountain was perfectly suited for the 8mm Peleng circular fisheye. After mounting the Peleng and adjusting for it's 180 degree field of view, I found an angle that I liked. The Peleng does tend to lend itself to chromatic aberration, vignetting and lens flare, so using it can be a real challenge. Fortunately this is where experience comes in and I came out witha shot that I'm very pleased with.

8mm Peleng circular fisheye: f16, 30 second exposure

After 3 hours of shooting our night was at an end, but the night held one more opportunity for me. I had been forced to park at the top floor of a parking deck which was nothing special by day, but by night afforded some great views of city life. As the crowds were walking by after a night at Fenway Park, and the traffic of the city stopped and went, I was able to capture an image which I think gives a good feel of that evening.

A single tone mapped exposure of Boylston & Dalton streets, with the Mass Pike in the foreground.


I'd like to thank Jeff & John for joining me for the impromptu shoot and making it such an enjoyable experience.