magellanous' photostream  

Welcome!

My name is Tim. I'm a night photographer living on Cape Cod.

Nearly all of my work is completed at night, using moonlight or ambient light to illuminate my subjects. In some cases, I'll use a flashlight to "paint" color into the shadows. This technique is known as "light painting."

As a light painter, capturing images at night goes beyond the simple press of a button. Long exposure times allow me to move in and out of the shot, unrecorded by the camera, to add color when needed or to simply just add emphasis to something that otherwise would have gone unnoticed in the dark. Shooting at night allows me to immerse myself in a world that many people sleep through.

Growing up, I was fascinated by the backdrop that a starry sky would create or how the moon would cast shadows across vistas that I had gotten used to seeing during the day. It's this alternate view of things and places, be them familiar or not, that I try to capture.

YES! Some of my work is available for purchase. A small selection is made available annually. Check out my website's "purchase" page for more information!
www.capenightphotography.com/purchase.html
FAQ's About Technique/ Questions I get asked the most.
1. What did you do to get all those colors?

In most cases, nothing. Unfortunately, the human eye loses the ability to see rich colors in the absence of light. In other words, you can't see color all that well at night. Thankfully, the camera does not suffer from this defect.

2. How did you get those lights in those junkyard cars and in some of your Cape images?

I use a colored flashlight. This technique is called "light paining." In short, I create the color schemes while the camera shutter is open. Long exposure times allow me to move in front of the camera without being burned into the image so I am free to work. No color is added via computer software later.

3. Are these photographs HDR?

High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing is "all the rage" among aspiring photographers and old pro's alike. Regardless, I believe "HDR" techniques create an image that is so far removed from reality that it is no longer perceived by your eye as a photograph. None of my night work is "HDR" or digitally altered to the point that it can no longer be considered an organically created photograph.