2021
It was my first time to use the Zeiss 18mm prime lens which was a little unfavourable for night photography due to its manual focus! However, I picked it because 1) it’s wide enough to capture sprawling trees, 2) it doesn’t over-distort the environment. For artificial light, I chose street lamps that intersect with trees as I noticed how light bounces beautifully off leave edges, which could be captured by the camera. For natural light, I chose the actual sun during sunrises and sunsets to be encircled by trees, so that it looks like the iris of an eye.
The process was challenging as I was not comfortable with how much it captures, and the kind of landscape and perspectives it succeeds best at documenting. After multiple field trips, I found it favorable to pick a time or place without people and pay exclusive attention to how the shape of trees adds “character” to my frame. I became aware of how I would capture most shots in a half-squat low angle position, which would have been an interesting tip to try out beforehand.
