Technically, I guess I shot this on 9/5, since I didn't get out to shoot the wineries until after midnight. We were house-sitting for our friends in Temecula, so after letting their dogs out and petting the cat, I went to South Coast Winery to do some night photos.



I like shooting water at night since it takes on a different look during a long exposure. Grapevines look the same, even after several minutes of exposure. There was a wedding chapel set up for the next day, so I tried to stick to interesting architecture instead of blurring out moving objects.



At 11mm, camera position is very important. The short focal length magnifies any slight angle. I was just a couple degrees off from being perpendicular to the bottom steps, but it was enough to tilt the lines. If I used Photoshop, this would be an easy fix, but I'm trying to stay away from non-global edits during post processing. This might be the sort of thing that I can't get right in camera every time, so I just might have to apply some transforms next time.



Hey, kinda like Swim Party's lights!

I decided a change of scenery would be nice, so I went to Wilson Creek Winery next.



With no caffeine in my system, I was starting to get tired, so I didn't really explore the grounds much at all. They had security cameras out, and I didn't know if I was technically trespassing.



Every time I go out for a night shoot, I learn something new. This outing taught me that I need to clean my lenses beforehand and if I get light sources in the shot, like christmas lights or the moon, I need to take off my UV filter to avoid unwanted reflections. And caffeine is really important to stay awake and stay ballsy. 

I'm trying to go out every full moon now, so if you're a photographer and you want to join me next time, just let me know. I think that the people who have shot one of these with me at night would say that it was worth it to try something new.