A Light Affair on Christmas

With a limited amount of light falling in the northern hemisphere during the fall and winter months, things can get pretty dreary. It also means there are limited opportunities to explore the great outdoors (without having a miserable time). The Pacific Northwest is particularly gloomy with the constant rain. We’re still on the third day of heavy rains that have been falling practically non-stop. As I write this, I can hear the sound of drops hitting the window and car tires slushing water on the road. It’s no wonder we start hanging lights as soon as October hits, and some stay on all year round. As the winter festivities begin to ramp up, light becomes important for our culture and sanity.

Back when I first came to the city as a student, I used to go to a small market located on the seabus terminal of the north shore. It felt like a grand adventure taking this sleek ferry from downtown Vancouver across the ocean in the span of 12 minutes. I was usually on my way to some rendezvous or other (😘) and never failed to swing by the market in the Quay to get some baked goods and coffee. There wasn’t really much to do in this particular area, except visit the scattered shops nearby, restaurants, and the market. It was also a bus terminal that serviced different communities of the north shore neighborhoods along the coast and the mountains, so there was plenty of foot traffic.

Fast-forward to the present, the area has expanded beyond the market and into what is now called the Shipyards. They have fixed up the walkways along the pier, an ice skating rink, plazas for events and buskers, restaurants, and so forth. They have transformed this space from an industrial to a vibrant commercial zone that not only brings in visitors but puts the residents closer to the natural world around us (with plenty of beer to go along with it).

All sorts of events are taking place this year, and they have decorated the space with plenty of lights. So, I thought it would be a great opportunity to go test my Olympus TG6 light-capturing capabilities. The camera has different settings for different light conditions, including night time shots. My default setting is called Backlight HDR, which does a great job of capturing richer and more realistic colours by creating a composite image of multiple shots taken in rapid succession. This can be a nightmare at night if the camera is not stable, creating a blurry effect on the image. Although one can take decent shots when there's plenty of artificial light, the results are suboptimal if it's too dark. I don’t like lugging around a heavy tripod because it takes the fun out of urban exploration, so I recently purchased a mini-tripod that is 15 cm when collapsed and 27cm when extended. While it is basically useless on its own, when combined with objects and surfaces in the environment, it is a powerful tool in the urban explorer kit.

Upon arriving at the Shipyards, I heard people counting down loudly, “three, two, one, yyaaaaay!” Cheers went up.

As I turned the corner, I saw a group had gathered around a large tree. What a wholesome family scene, I thought. I hope I don't get arrested. Heh

The grounds that night were festive with large crowds of people moving to and fro the length of the shipyards. There was music, food trucks, spirit gardens (as in alcohol), games, crafts, skating, and a whole lot of other activities that while not grand in scale, were nonetheless joyful and full of merriment.

Stabilizing the camera makes a lot of difference in these type of light conditions

School band playing Christmas carols

There is a pier that juts out onto the water. The walkway is broad and wooden, so your footsteps sound hollow as you walk. It’s a very cool pleasant feeling. Romantic too. As if one is embarking on some grand adventure of discovery in the sea.

Sideview of pier where the string of lights run alongside the water

I used different settings on the camera to see what worked best. The mini-tripod was usually propped up on some surface or firmly in my grip to prevent jitter. At home, I compared the results between different settings and discovered that for the most part, a setting called NightScape, which slows shutter speed worked best at dusk when the sky was darkening and the city lights were clearly visible. There was a caveat. Because of the slower shutter speed, if there was something moving in front of the scene, then the camera created a ghostly effect. As you can see in the following images, the lights of the city in the distance look stable, but the people walking nearby look blurry. Ghostly. Very interesting effect.

I'm glad that the camera performed well thanks to the tripod. It absolutely helps stabilize the image so the camera has enough time to do its thing. I think that handling the camera manually also introduces movement, so I'll try using the phone app to control the camera and avoid touching the shooting mechanism. Thank you for coming along and keep on shooting 📷 🤠