Feeling the cold, dark nights
It's getting cold out there. A huge shift from the last month where even November felt like it was still clinging on to the end of summer for a while. I have missed the cold, but I'm painfully unprepared for it this time around. I had to throw away a lot of clothes that just haven't been replaced. I feel the cold this year. I feel it a lot. Layers of long sleeves don't help much. The fingerless gloves that usually would keep me shooting and warm no longer seem to do so. I quickly feel the cold air in the hands as my fingers stiffen. My ears freeze up. I don't remember being so vulnerable to the cold like this but perhaps it really is just that lack of preparation. I checked the weather yesterday and to my surprise it had already reached below 0 in the evenings.
I have struggled to be out in the streets as much as I'd like to. From juggling the attempts to find more work to the enjoyment of exploration to relax the mind a bit. As it gets dark so early now, it also means shooting almost entirely in the darkness, which I also don't mind a whole lot but it can be a bit limiting. I've been longing for those wintery nights in pubs, a few pints of beer to warm up with as the alcohol hits. These aren't really the days for getting out and roaming around. My attempts to do so have mostly failed. I understand why so many cling to the Christmas markets scattered throughout the city, where the warmth of market stalls fills the air. Hot coffee and mulled wine. Little fires to gather around.
Tonight I walked to one of those Christmas markets which is a little out of the city. Inside a huge old Soviet era factory. A magnificent building. Though no bus goes directly to it due to its odd location. Most people would drive there, but some like me chose to walk. I took routes through the old alleyways beneath the old city. Soviet buildings and pre-Soviet showing the ruins of a significantly older Armenia. Mostly evident from the old stone that was used back then compared to the Soviet method. Beneath the dimly lit alleyways, leaves scattered around. The only warmth came from the few dull lights that would show some signs of life within the buildings around the ground level.
Yerevan's a small city and its residential spaces get dark fast. Where there aren't many artificial lights around beyond the cars. In some ways I like it, in other ways I feel a bit bored trying to find places to shoot in knowing the best places are just the main streets in the already small centre. I think that sometimes that's a good thing though, to feel a bit stuck with photography, as it can enforce a new perspective. Encouraging you to try different things and try to make something work that you otherwise wouldn't notice. Or perhaps even a different method entirely. Whether it's long exposures or flash. I also do enjoy that darkness sometimes. It does add some variety to other areas. Perhaps not for the photography side of things, but a city coated in some darker areas than others makes for exploring it feeling a bit more new.
These days modern cameras have some astonishing low light capabilities. Some can push an ISO way up and see very little noise. Though I'm not quite there yet. I've been accumulating some new lenses and filters, slowly adding to the gear instead of throwing so much money at a camera. As I've said a million times before: I can't wait to be able to upgrade it finally. And all of the accumulated gear work so perfectly with it, heightening the creative potential more.
The amount of cold that comes through seen your pictures is insane, I can only image how winter photography gets tricky when you are not prepared for the cold and you basically threw away all your warm clothes, fingerless gloves stop working when temps drop below zero and your hands freeze up real fast which makes shooting difficult as hell. The darkness coming early makes everything harder too, but sometimes being stuck like this forces you to see things different or try new methods instead of the same old routine over and over. Your post kinda sounds like the perfect mix of depressing and beautiful at the same time with all the dark and Xmas involve, those old stone buildings and dim lights create this atmosphere that probably looks great on camera even if its hard to capture properly, sometimes gear limitations push you to get creative with what you already have. Thx for sharing, stay warm.
Sums up Yerevan very well! The beautiful Soviet era architecture which has decayed alongside their courtyards which were once beautiful green spaces teeming with life. Now empty and littered. No longer are the streetlights around them functional. Dark spaces, cold and unforgiving. But areas of life and connection still present in other areas. Sometimes it's the elderly playing nardi in those sad courtyards. Sometimes it's markets where sometimes throughout the year the city wakes up a bit and finds something to do.
It's an odd atmosphere for sure. A jungle of concrete that once had so much to say, as if to be roaming around a former civilisation that few others take note of.
That’s right, and it’s good, isn’t it? Mine I can’t raise above 800. Haha.
Yerevan is quite well lit. Havana would seem like a nocturnal cemetery to you, without will-o’-the-wisps.
I really like your night photos.
I know him, he is me! Anything above 400 and the noise becomes insane. I have a new Soviet lens arriving in a few days by the way, same one that was used on Dune 2. Going to upgrade the camera soon, I REALLY want a cinema one. Maybe FX3 or Blackmagic pyxis.
That's how it is in the residential spaces. Just total darkness. Inside the courtyards beyond the main roads where shop lights and street lights remain.
I've noticed the cold is hitting my A6000 though. It starts messing up a bit when I try to take images outdoors at night.
🙂😀 wow... I hope to see it around here when it arrives... by the way, do you have any case or display cabinet to protect your lenses from humidity?
Humidity in Armenia is basically nonexistent for much of the year. I don't think it's much to be worried about. Though it is something I had to be concerned about when I was in Georgia. My Canon AE-1 has fungus in the viewfinder (came with it), which can easily just be removed and cleaned with the right tools. Lenses are fine, I haven't noticed anything like that. I did notice that in Georgia it grew a bit more.
I'm not too worried about lenses as well since most I collect these days are vintage and cheap. They're easier to take apart and maintain, or simply just replace if they really get bad.