The White Flowers That Danced Before The Night Sky
Notes from my daily photography experiments #3
Midnight walks do grant me a gracious pleasure of seeing things in a different light, as well as the absence of it. It is a fascinating time, with the drama and suspense rivaling that of an opera house. The shadows of the cars and mopeds play on the shapes of bushes and businessmen meandering home as if they are now center stage. The spotlight is finally on them.
I am lucky to be from Japan, to live here, and to be able to take nightly walks without too much fear, where the main thing I need to look out for are spiders that have optimistically build their webs in the paths of pedestrians, only to get a faceful of sticky silk.
The nights are beautiful and lovely, and less complicated. My thoughts seem to be able to swim a lot more freely at this time. The emotions that create these thoughts are allowed free reign of my mouth and actions. The night, in its darkness, allows those wild, untethered thoughts to roam.
As I left my home to take my daily image, I was unsure as to what I would shoot. I had dedicated myself to one photo a day, between preparation for well-planned shoots and other work.
I felt the night envelop me in itself, and it took me in, forcing me to notice it. I stood witness to every cobweb, every camouflaged fruit that grew on a neighbors tree, and every closed and lonely shop. It made me feel as if I was observing a sleeping person. It’s ironic that at the times you are meant to be in bed, you are shaken awake by it, and come more alive.
As I walked down my mountain, I came across a neighbor’s yard, with the branches of trees that cradled tiny bouquets of white flowers. It flowed in the wind in a balletic motion. It had no idea how graceful it looked.
I had seen it during the day, but not in this light. These dancing little flowers did indeed look like they were thrust, unbeknownst to them, on stage. The backdrop was my light-polluted night sky, The spotlight was the streetlight, and the audience was of one: me. And a cement slab was my seat in this natural theatre.
I didn’t know that so close to home, was this little scene that could inspire such grandeur feelings within me. I understood the importance of taking a chance of the night, and it will present you with a beauty that you cannot see during the day. It will show you the shadows, and more importantly, it will profess its necessary darkness.
Technical Comments:
Lens: 16–80mm Shutter speed: 10 F Stop 3.5 ISO 6500 (Yeah, I know) Edited a bit to remove the grain
DAILY PHOTO EXPERIMENTS: Day 1: A Week of Mimicking Flowers Day 2: The Optimism of a Watermelon Day 3: The White Flowers That Danced Before The Night Sky Day 4: A Celebration of Procrastination Day 5: The Statue That Looked More Human Than I Felt Day 6: Today I Made A Tree