A Shot in the Dark

A week ago, I spotted a carnival in a local mall parking lot as I was driving down the freeway. I mentioned to the hubby that it would be a great place for some night photos. I made a mental note to go there the following weekend if I had the chance. The next day (Monday), I was at work and got an email from a friend entitled "Photos From my First Night Shoot". Like me, she's had her camera for about 5 months, and we occasionally trade photos to compare notes. I opened the email and saw pictures from the same carnival I had seen the night before. She'd beat me to it!!! She said she'd like to go again and we agreed to meet on Saturday night, since the hubby would be fishing an all-night tournament and I was free to do my thing. We met at 8 PM, just before sundown. We managed to get some great shots as the sun was setting and the sky lit up to a beautiful pink/purple. This was truly the magic hour for light. The sky then faded to a dark blue, then black in a matter of minutes. It seems we weren't the only ones with this idea as there were several other people there with tripods and big lenses. The state fair is coming to town in a couple of months, so you can bet I'll be there. Check out these other photos I got that night (I've included exposures as they happened):

Shutter: .3 sec
Aperture: F/10
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 24 mm













Shutter: 1 sec
Aperture: F/4
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 18 mm













Shutter: 1/15 sec
Aperture: F/4
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 24 mm