Story Behind The Photo: Geneva, Switzerland - Zooming Through The Night
I love to try out new camera techniques. One wintry night in Geneva, Switzerland (Lynda and I were living there at the time) I walked from our apartment to one of Geneva's most incredible views; on a bridge overlooking Lake Geneve'. I wanted to capture a nighttime image of the city skyline that was different from the normal night exposure. The image above was the result.
I set up my camera on a tripod (an absolute necessity for this type of photo), then began experimenting with various long exposures while the camera shutter setting ("T-Value" was on "B" (bulb). I set my f-stop on a fairly high number (f-11 as I remember) then I slowly zoomed my lens in and out while the shutter was open. It is easy to do, but it requires a steady hand and lots of experimentation to get just the shot you want.
By the way, as a bit of trivia, did you ever wonder why camera manufacturers use the letter "B" for the "shutter open" setting. It is a throwback to the first box cameras that used a long air-tube and a hand-squeezed bulb to trigger the shutter. When you squeezed the bulb, the shutter stayed open as long as you did not release it. Thus, the term "Bulb" or "B" is used on many modern cameras.
The below photo is another night scene, this time of the moon peaking through tree limbs. This photo created its own challenges; keeping the moon from blowing out the photo with its brightness and yet keeping some detail in the tree limbs. I took it many years ago on Ektachrome slide film and a Canon T-90 camera, so a reliable "digital" preview was not possible at that time. I had to guess at the exposure. As I remember, I shot the photo as a 30 second time exposure with the lens stopped down to about f/11.
Until next time . . . live well and take lots of pictures.
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