Published on 12, July, 2020
I love night wandering. It's unfortunate this time of year is so cold otherwise I would walk through the fields, last night however I settled for walking through my house.
During past summers I walked through the fields around my house and it looked beautiful because it's dark but still light enough to see.
At night everything is so quiet. No sounds other than the house creaking and the occasional bit of wildlife outside, often seen but never heard. I had missed this when I was away in hospital. Last year I had heard an owl hooting merrily to itself.
It's felt so natural to be back in a familiar place with these familiar sounds. I love how everything looks different in the dark as well, it's eery in a way but amazing.
I like to see the gradual transition as it begins to get lighter. Watching the sky change and brighten is an incredible sight to behold, there's so many shades changing smoothly.
I'm tired now. I was up between 1 and 2, I find it hard to sleep and at night I like to be moving around. This used to annoy my mum because she put me to bed and within the hour I was awake again. Lol. I've always loved night wandering.
I wonder if this has to do with autism or if it's just an unusual thing I do.
Night walks are something I started doing in 2020. Because at the time I lived next door to a noisy neighbour and it made my life hell, and I couldn't cope with it. I would have to leave the house to get away from the noise because I need time without sensory overload to recover. So I would go and walk around the streets at 1am and 2am.
What I discovered was it is actually really lovely to walk at night - it's quiet, peaceful, no people or cars around.
Where I lived at the time was in the urban sprawl of a city, so not in the city centre itself, which would be noisy and unpleasant at night. I was in a residential area so I would just walk around the streets. A few times I would dare to go into the woods or a park which could be a little bit scary since there's no street lights.
When I finally managed to move house the noise problem was solved, but I continued going on walks at night because I enjoy them. I moved to a more rural area and I can see so many stars at night, it's really beautiful. And I can walk along the country lanes here, although it's pitch black without street lights, when there is a full moon you can see really well.
I couple of times I've even ended up on the moors after dark, because I like to see the sunset and then I come down once it gets dark. I know the way so it's fine, and I don't encounter anybody except sheep, owls and bats.
Here is where I was in the woods with a full moon on a cloudy night:
Here is when I was in a church graveyard at night:
This was when I was coming down off the moor in the dark. I didn't take a long exposure so can't really see anything:
I have never managed to master the art of night photography, despite numerous attempts over the years.
I Sperg , the camera I have is a Nikon Coolpix B500 digital bridge camera. For the most, it usually suits my needs. I also have a tripod, mainly because my hands aren't always the steadiest. Having said that, I sometimes find that using the 2-second or 10-second timer on my camera can be enough to prevent 'camera shake'.
Ilford HP5 & a tripod or at least hold the camera very still, and use the widest aperture that the lens will allow.
Do not use XP2 for ease of processing, I tried that & IMHO it's rubbish compared to HP5, which has a very pleasing grain.
Some night pictures really benefit from a tiny bit of add-in flash as I found out when I tried to replace my trusty D70s with a D3s... Next time I dip into Fx format, I'll try a D700. I've been hoping they'd make a D700s variant..