Last week, Ann-Christine’s “Illustrate a Favorite Quote or Poem” challenge inspired us to find quotations to illustrate with our images. This week Sofia gives us a challenge to compare and contrast. She writes, “This week’s challenge is about Day and Night… Show us how you see them both, if and/or how it changes the way you photograph, whichever is your favourite.” You can read her entire challenge post here.
Sofia’s challenge was a real challenge for me to find even a few night-shot comparisons. I don’t do a lot of night photography; when I do, the images are of a place we are “passing through”. I found three locations where I captured both a daytime and a night image from approximately the same perspective. I also included a couple of my favorite night shots.
My opening image set is from the upper level above the San Antonio River Walk. It was near our hotel and I happened to capture a couple getting ready to take a selfie. From Sofia’s quote above, you can see that in these cases, I happened to only change the perspective between night and day in one of the sets.
Though the crop is slightly different in aspect ratio and I was a few steps closer to the bridge, my night shot of the bridge was more to capture the moon just peeking through the clouds above. Unfortunately, there was no couple there to be our subject.
My next comparison features two views of Nashville from slightly different perspectives. During the day, there are tourists, but not nearly as many as at night. The barricades are most used at night to allow a large number of pedestrians the extra space needed to walk in front of the bars and music venues.
A few hours later, the streets were crowded, but when the rains came, almost everyone ducked inside one of the venues or found a marque to stand underneath. The perspective is slightly different as I wanted to capture the reflections of the neon lights in the wet street.
On a business trip to Baltimore a few years ago, I was staying on one of the upper floors of a hotel that was built on the edge of the Inner Harbor. This image was captured shortly after sunrise. The nearby hotel on the left is across the street from our hotel.
This view is from a slightly different perspective and includes more of our neighboring hotel and less of the opposite shoreline. The water in the inner harbor is the Patapsco River. If you were on a yacht and you wanted to sail from here to Cape Charles, you would travel over 250 miles (400 km) to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Inner Harbor is a perfect description of this inland waterway. It’s a lot shorter drive between the cities than it is a sail. Of course, some of that extra distance includes cruising stops along the way. Details here.
Concluding this challenge, I thought I would share two of my favorite black-and-white night photographs. The image above was captured looking north on Broadway toward the iconic 1920s-era Fargo Theater. It still operates at 98 years young as the Center for the Arts in Fargo-Moorhead. It has a weekly schedule of first-run and classic movies as well as live performances.
Last January (2023), I included this black-and-white image of Crutched Friars near the Cheshire Cheese Pub on the One-Lens Walk Challenge. I trimmed it into a panoramic image in part to crop out a very bright street light that shone down from the train bridge that runs over this part of the road. You can pixel-peep these photos on my Flickr site to see the camera type and other metadata (if you are a photo nerd like me) here.
Thanks, Sofia, for encouraging me to find a couple of these images still in my raw file originals folders and allowing me to share them for this challenge. Next week, Egidio challenges us with his first theme, Warm Colors. I’ve already been searching for appropriate images to include. If you’d like to contribute to the challenge but aren’t quite sure how to get started, check here.
John Steiner
They all tell a story or reflect a mood, John. I like the atmosphere of the black and whites, too.
Thanks, Jo! I do need to find myself out more at night. 🙂
Summer nights work best for me 🙂🩵
Great shots, John. I love the night pictures best! Marsha, in case my name doesn’t show up.
Thanks, Marsha!
You’re welcome. 🙂
It’s been interesting to see so many people thinking they can’t do nighttime photography and then sharing great examples 🙂 I still love you London shot, John and the one in Fargo is equally lovely. Your comparisons work wonderfully too.
Thanks, Sofia. Night photography can be a challenge, but newer cameras have specific night modes that are especially helpful.
One option my new cell phone has is a night portrait mode that provides controlled flash to light the subject and a longer exposure to capture the background. That’s worth trying, but I never think about it when the opportunity arises.
Understandably, sometimes we just have time for a quick shot. I always get a flat(ish) surface to help out and it works, most of the time 😀
To be frank, your night images are the best.
You are good at whatever you do, John.
The Inner Harbor at Baltimore, is my fav for the day clicks
I appreciate the compliment, Philo! Thanks.
You are welcome, John.
You have been to so many interesting places, with more to come.Every time you capture a photo, you seem to give us exactly what you want us to get from it. I love the both River Walk shots, and also the Fargo shot. I can see why that is a favorite.
Thanks, Donna! You know my motto… if I take a hundred photos, one or two of them might be OK. The trick is finding the good ones. >grin<
lol. Keeping it real!
very nice photo comparisons John. I have to say, after having seen Nashville – or Nash Vegas, as the term of endearment goes – it is a perfect example of day and night differences. It has something to do with all those bar signs, for me.
– Archer
It’s interesting to see your comparison shots and hear how you adjusted your viewpoint to capture specific aspects of the night scenes. However my favourite here for sure is the B&W one of Fargo, it’s like a still from an old 1940s movie!
John, your night shots are wonderful as are the other comparison images. I totally loved the black and whites.
Thanks, Anne!
😊
Great selections, great comparisons. Well done. Love that River Walk bridge.
Thanks, John!
John, these are great photos. It was funny how in most photos I’ve seen for this challenge, I have enjoyed the night scenes better when the same location is shared. In your set here, that was the case, except for the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. That daytime photo is gorgeous. I also got to give you big kudos for the BNW images. Stunning!
Thanks, Egidio! The light in the morning on that day in Baltimore was amazing!
Wonderful images! I love the ones in black and white
Thanks!
Well John, you gave yourself an extra challenge showing the same vista in both night and day. I loved your San Antonio images especially, and remember that bridge as well! Also loved the B&Ws – terrific.
Last year, we revisited that area of t(e River Walk. It brought back some great memories!
Great choices, John! I especially love the black and white photos!
Thanks, Yanti!
You had no night photos? These are excellent. The inner harbour is my favourite, but Fargo in B&W is a beauty!
Thanks, Ann-Christine! I don’t spend enough time photographing Fargo at night.
That is changeable!
The B&W night shots are beautiful. I’d love to travel this country as much as you have.
Thanks, Dan. My wife and I are very fortunate to be able to travel as much as we do!
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