Orchard Park Public LibraryEstablishing Shot I love fall with its colors, who doesn't? I also like winter with its clean whiteness. I don't mind the cold when I am ready for it. But the transition period is often tough. The colors are gone and the white blanket is not here yet. And sunsets are early, days are short.

Yesterday, I wanted to do some sunset exploration around the lake but it was  27°F and very windy. I was not ready for an extended photo session yet though! My winter gear still needed tuning. However, the inclement weather brought in some wonderful ominous clouds and the late afternoon sun was playing peek-a-boo. light was changing fast and photographic opportunities were plentiful. I could not keep myself inside!

For a while, I had some Orchard Park locations in mind that I have not pointed my lens at. So a solution to the day's conundrum came to mind. An easy shoot as a test of my preparedness for the upcoming winter season.

Orchard Park Public LibraryAdded a graduated ND filter and set exposure compensation to -0.7 EV. I started the way I always try to, with an establishing shot. While it was clear that the light contrast between the sky and the foreground was way too high to capture with a straight shot, I clicked the shutter anyway. Why do I like to take these? Well, it never hurts to see what comes out before starting to mess with the settings and with gear. Plus, moments can be fleeting. It's all too easy to get lost in all of the technicalities and equipment and leave with no shot at all.

It was getting closer but the contrast was still too much. I added a second graduated ND filter for a total of three stops over the sky. I also zoomed out a bit to frame the library building using the tree on the right and the pole on the left.

You can see the change in the third photo here.

Orchard Park Public LibraryWider view and Two Grads

What was still missing? That was tough to tell but I wanted to wait a little longer for the sky to darken a bit. That was unpredictable though. The sunset colors were quickly fading and the heavy clouds kept streaming too far south leaving most of the key over the library open. I'd have preferred them right over the building! Another problem? The sunset was at 4:45 PM and the library was closing at 5:00 PM. And are they punctual there!

I had one more idea to spice things up though. How about some light trails from cars passing between me and the library? I tried on a few cars and the trails were too faint. I had to adjust my exposure, bring up ISO from 50 to 100 and open up my aperture a bit, which resulted in an exposure time of only 3 seconds or so. Shorter than what I like for nice long trails of multiple cars but necessary for the moving lights to register sufficiently in the photo.

Just before 5:00 PM, luck was on my side and a line of several cars approached. I felt like that was going to be my only chance and tripped the shutter just before the first car entered into the scene. I got the photo below.

Orchard Park Public LibraryFinal photo at dusk with tail light trails

Orchard Park Public Library at Dusk just before Closing, with Car Tail Light Trails

And that was it. I changed my position after this photo to get one more different angle and just before I fired the shutter, half of the library windows went dark, followed shortly by the other half. That was it, it was fun, I did not freeze, equipment worked, almost ready for winter!

Have fun with your photo projects!

Equipment used: Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens, Manfrotto tripod (055MF3) and head (496RC2), Cokin graduated ND4 filter, Cokin P Holder with a 72 mm Adapter, Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack,  Petzl Zipka Plus 2 Headlamp (always in the bag just in case), SanDisk Extreme 32GB SD Cards, Pixel Wired Remote Shutter Release Control (cheap alternative to the Nikon-bramded one), Nikon Capture NX2

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