Taking Shots in the Dark

Since the sun is down again when I leave the office, my subjects during the evening rush hour are pretty much in the dark.  But, my new NEX-7 camera is a bit better in low light compared to the larger Canon DSLR I had been using, and I've been experimenting with the high ISO settings.  Boosting the level allows more sensitivity in the darkness but also generates a lot more noise (speckles) to the photo. This can, however, be cleaned up in post-production.  I use Lightroom 4 (another recent upgrade) and it does a suitable job enhancing the photos.  So, the ultimate quality can be quite good.  

Another advantage of shooting in the dark, is that nobody notices you... since its dark.  This helps to capture that candid street photography sense.  Instead of grabbing a quick snap, it's possible to linger a bit longer to wait for that great moment.   

Below, I framed out this newsstand bordering City Hall Park.  The neon and the roof lights attracted my attention.  I selected my composition and waited for people to enter the shot.  Here are some Halloweeners doing the Flintstones thing.  

City Halloween

I boosted the ISO a bit more from 3200 to 6400 and got the shot below, which I like so much that I think it is a candidate my 2012 Top 10 list, which will be coming out in a few weeks.  The post-production work tends to add just a touch of surrealism to it, and I like the arty after effect.  

City Hall Newsstand