Started by davey1892, 2 Oct 2026. 16 replies, 362 views
Dark by half 6 up here already and its only going to get worse once the clocks go back on the 25th. Every year I tell myself I'll do something with the camera on weeknights over winter and every year it lives in the bag till March.
So what do you lot actually do? Not what you mean to do. I've got a vague idea about the Tyne bridges at night but I said that last year as well
Develop film. Winter is when I catch up on all the rolls ive shot over summer, had 11 sat in the fridge last year
Scanning, mostly. And the odd frosty walk at the weekend. On weeknights the Zf sits on the desk looking pretty...
Portraits at home. One light, a stand and a grey bedsheet. Winter is when I actually practise lighting, there's no daylight to distract me.
j_okafor said:One light, a stand and a grey bedsheet
The wife would love that, me firing a flash at her at 8pm on a Tuesday
Mugs work. Fruit. The cat, if you're brave.
j_okafor said:Mugs work. Fruit. The cat, if you're brave.
Or bugs! Indoor focus stacking is my whole winter. Mushrooms brought home from the weekend (Mycena if I can find them, the tiny bonnet ones), or whichever spiders have moved into the shed for the season (sorry). A small LED panel, a bit of diffusion (baking paper works (honestly)), and an evening just disappears.
Night street in the rain. Edinburgh on a wet Tuesday with the shop lights reflecting off the pavements is the most photogenic it ever gets. Only time of year the Scottish weather's actually on my side...
davey1892 said:I've got a vague idea about the Tyne bridges at night
Do it. Tripod, long exposure, ten minutes from your door presumably... you've run out of excuses, mate.
I did the same with the canal in town two winters back. Every Wednesday, rain or not, an hour after tea. First month was rubbish, then you start noticing things. Which lock has the good lamp, when the narrowboats have their stoves going and the smoke hangs under the bridge, which nights the water's flat enough to give you a reflection. By February I had a set I'd put up against anything I've shot in daylight, and a few of them are on the landing wall now.
Old manual lenses are cracking at night too. The flare off street lamps on a Takumar does things no modern multicoated lens will, little starbursts and a sort of glow round the highlights. Clinical it isn't. Stop down to f/8, focus on the hyperfocal mark and forget about it.
The trick is a fixed night. If it's "some evening this week" it never happens. Just saying
Twenty minutes, and you've just listed every excuse I used last year
davey1892 said:Not what you mean to do
Trip planning, if I'm honest. November to February I've got maps open every night picking next year's routes, then complaining it's raining. Pacific Northwest winter, the camera comes out on the one dry Saturday a month.
HannahC41 said:Develop film
And print it. Winter is darkroom season pal, the clue's in the name. Bathroom, towel under the door, three trays and the radio on. Best four hours of my week.
Right. Went down the quayside tonight with the tripod. Freezing, two lads asked if I was from the council, and I've got one shot of the Millennium Bridge I'm actually happy with. Same time next week
davey1892 said:one shot of the Millennium Bridge I'm actually happy with
One more than last winter. Progress.
gigs. venues are dark all year round so winter changes nothing for me. only difference is i'm already wearing a coat when i get there
Week three on the quayside. Tried the Swing Bridge this time and got moved on by a security bloke for standing near a gate I wasnt even touching. Two keepers though, so still counts