into the light © Lilly Schwartz 2011
In the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get my head around my camera which I got for my birthday last year. It’s a Canon EOS 450D. Before this camera I had a HP Photosmart C850 and a Canon PowerShot A420. The first one is already very old and a bit clunky for its limited capabilities. The PowerShot is great for snaps, but has only automatic modes, so you can’t really do much with it. And one thing is for sure: You can’t take pictures at night with either of them. With my EOS however, it’s even possible to take night shots without a tripod which I tested thoroughly yesterday. I took my camera to a very nice open air tango spot at the Strandbar next to the river in the Monbijoupark. It was difficult to take pictures of the people dancing since there were no spotlights on the dance floor and just a disco-ball illuminating the scene. One picture turned out reasonably ok, but with the high ISO it’s just a little too grainy for my liking. However, I also managed to take some nice shots of people standing and talking, and also of a few places that had enough light, like restaurant entrances and shops.
Today’s picture shows the entrance of a Hotel at the Zunfthalle just around the corner from where I live. It reminds me of the cheap hotels my mum and me stayed in whenever we made our yearly journey together. This would happen every year when I was a teenager and we went to many different places including Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg and Florence. My mum always dragged me through one too many museums and for her liking I on the opposite was not “active” enough. She always asked me “Did we come here to lie in bed in a hotel?” and I answered “Well, I did”! However, in the end it was good for the both of us to be influenced by each other.
To come back to today’s picture though: I had to remove a little red pixel which recurred in all the night time shots I took yesterday. So, I thought there must be dust on the lens, but when I googled it I had to realise that my EOS has a dead pixel on the sensor! Oh the horror! The only way to get it removed is to send my camera to Canon for repair. You can imagine how I feel about this …
dark but with a mysterious light of hope
Not so sure it’s hope there. If I had to live in that hotel I’d pretty much lose my hope right there … 😉
Good choice of subject and plenty of black – a lot of photographers are afraid to use a lot of black.
I think the problem with black is that it suggests that there is not enough light for the camera. For higher ISOs you need a tripod, you need long exposures. It’s just more difficult. Night shots have a great atmosphere though and I like lots of black in pictures too!
I really like the feeling of this photo — a great contrast from the darkness in most of the photo to the bright light above the door, so bright that you can’t make out the top line in the name of the hotel. Cool photo!
Thanks for the nice comment! I find this entrance so creepy, wouldn’t want to go inside …
perfect!
thanks!
I am guessing its past one year (dont know your birthday 🙂 but if it wasnt you could actually send your camera to the canon service centre for a free repair. The only charge you pay is one way shipping (which could be a lot cheaper or costlier depending on the distance of course)
having said that if its just one or two dead pixel, its probably not worth the effort.
Yeah, it’s sadly past the warranty there. I gather though that they don’t do anything about one or two pixels, so it’s really not worth sending it in for that. When I shoot RAW it usually gets auto-corrected during conversion unless the colours suggest that it might belong to the picture. Happens not very often …