Garden Lights

After procrastinating going to Garden Lights for a whole month, today is the day!

The unbelievably warm weather leaves me no excuse to postpone this any later. Also it's a good chance to try night photography, although this is slightly sadistic since my X10 has a tiny sensor. Nonetheless I am impressed with it's results, as it did produce a legible image of tree branches against the dark sky at ISO1000, f2.2, and 2s shutter speed. Sure it's not a usable image with all the noise, but woah I can make out the branches really well.

Below are more successful photos, there's also a couple more over on Facebook (but the butchered IQ...cringe):

 This took some post-processing magic to tone down the reds to something manageable.

 The most fuss-free shot of the night.

 I absolutely love the light reflecting off the handrails.

 I know I'm skipping winter when there's still flowers on tree branches in mid-December. It was difficult to keep my arms steady in mid-air at a 1/8 shutter speed.

 I do like this composition very much.

Luckily there were benches around the fountain to set my camera for a 2s exposure for that lovely soft water. Also important to set a shutter delay.