This task is one of the two that really spoke to me when I joined. So, I wasn't going to skip out on a half-assed completion. "o hai look its dark lol". Then again, I can't remember any one doing a bad job on this task... Anyway.

I had a song stuck in my head the first night I went out.

I do some quick googling of night photography. I have a Nikon D50, and for such a decent camera, I sure as fuck don't know how to use it :: grins ::. Long exposure, low iso, tripod, got it.
Wait. I don't have a tripod.
Well, I could be resourceful, and use the environment as a tripod. Yeah, that'll work! --..... No.... No it won't. I took a gander throughout the house to find something that could be used as a tripod, but for some reason, I didn't want to have to explain to cops why I was carrying a nice camera and a chair around my streets. So, I went outside with (only) my camera, and figured out how to get it to take long exposures. I think I would've figured it out faster had I tried to learn inside. Did I mention it was dark, and about 20 degrees?



After some bad test pictures, I walked down the street and started using mailboxes to steady my shaking hands. It worked somewhat well.


Even though I despise these street lights, they gave off a really awesome glow for my camera. I tried to take at least one significant picture at each light. Given the barren environment and my inability to sit still, this was difficult. There are some nice houses on my street, though.


After some more camera-fudging, I found out that long exposures can be made into really long exposures when the " mark is by them (Derrr...). Reaching the end of my road, I took pictures of the guard-rail, which actually does have significance. It's been a witness to various cars parked at the dead-end here. Various cars with various owners with various intentions. It makes a good seat when going for a walk, as well. Figuring I was done with the first leg of Phase One, I looked for more subjects. Hmmm.... The moon's out..... :: snap; tries to hold still ::
Lawl, look at the trail it left! Trail.... Hmm....



Thus, Moon-writing was created. I could only manage letters, because at that point my thumb was numb. No, actually it was beyond numb. There was that pinching dull pain going on saying "I'm going to hurt even more once you bring me to normal tempurature!". What a dick.
So I decided to head home, hoping my pics weren't too blurry.
As I got close, though, I figured one more picture wouldn't hurt, as there was a nice glow coming from a shed in the forest. Out of the ten pictures I took, only 1 came out.
I tried to zoom in, but I heard something in the forest. It was either small or far away, no big deal.
Another failed picture. I heard the whatever get closer.
A few more failed shots. More branches snapping and the ilk. It definitely was getting closer.
Just one more shot. Focus. Rest the camera on the knee. Sit still.
SNAP. The Whatever sounded like it was at the edge of the tree-line.
I booked. What the fuck kind of animal would be attracted to a foreign noise!? Not a deer. Not a racoon. Not a coyote. Not something so big and heavy that they don't bother being stealthy in the forest. Oh wait.

I ran until I got back into my yard and took this picture --

Got home, looked at the pictures..... Not even a Photoshop filter could save these puppies. Seeing as the night was generally a failure, I vowed to brave the night again..... Some other night.
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Phase 1, Attempt 2
I acquired a tripod while looking for clocks. . .
The tripod, which sold for $2 at a thrift store, was barely stable, and felt like it could hardly hold 10 lbs. Not to mention, my camera has a sophisticated little screw-in device for tripods. This tripod had a..... Well, I don't even know its purpose.
I took it anyway, figuring I could jimmy-rig it.
After acquiring some bottles on ebay, I went outside. I tried taking an old picture with my newfound friend.

So far, so good. I get out onto my street, and I heard noises. Already. Mother fuck. I ignored them, and held the camera on the tripod as best I could.

After a few shots (moving towards the street lights, definitely not towards the dark part of town), I thought I saw something in the woods.... It looked like a huge boulder, but.... Didn't make much sense. It looked too rounded to be a deer. I saw a face, but no neck. So, as I was setting up the tripod, I hear a strange scratching on the road. I look over to see three coyotes strutting across the street. The youngest one looked at me, and the other two made a path directly across the street, and turned in my direction into some bushes.
Fuck this. I'm out.
My power-walking session made me realize just how jingly my pants were -- hell, even my coat was loud. Where's ninja skills when you need em?
The moon was out, which, for all the rain we were been having, was a rarity. I needed to hone my moon-writing ability! I felt a safe distance to my house and from the coyote sighting, so I stood there, taking 3-second exposures of the moon. Here's a collage of my attempts.
Guess what I'm trying to spell? :: grins ::
As I felt like I was getting the hang of it, I heard something come from the forest again. It was really fucking close, though it sounded like it was going away from me rather than towards me, which was a relief. But deer leap through the forest, especially in response to noises like my camera. This sounded like a bulldozer without the engine plowing through underbrush.
Fuck this, I'm out.
Second night in a row where the forest owns me. I've only done about a third of my neighborhood! And my neighborhood is the first phase of three. This Night Photography is serious business.

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Phase 1, Attempt 3:


Brought a friend along. I confided in her short legs to make a good meal while I booked for dear life. Fortunately, it didn't have to come to that. I finally made it to the end of the lit road. We were going to submit a completion for 'Escape to the camera', but I thought it wasn't anything too amazing.
 

Then we wandered into the unlit part of my neighborhood.


Did I mention it was dark?

We tried to get some more Moonwriting in..... Really tried.

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Phase 2!
Monee

This is the town I grew up in. I'm going to throw in the highlights from now on, because you've done a lot of scrolling so far.



The train! Awesome photo op!
...... Sorta....
Hm, the light seems to be everywhere......

Would've been an awesome shot, had it not been for the dust..... Well, let's just wipe off the dust, shall we?


Mistake.


See, a long time ago, this camera was cursed, if you will, with corn syrup. And since the corn syrup wasn't smeared, it wasn't really a problem..... Until the lens got dusty and some idiot thought he could wipe off the dust with his shirt.


Pissed off and a few miles from my car, I decided to check a truck stop for something to clean my camera.

And I found it.



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Phase 4
Matteson

This is the point where it became a hobby to go outside with my camera at night.



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Phase 5
Homewood



The above picture shows an elevator that made an obnoxious sound when it opened.


Moving on.


There's many, many, many more shots. Some of them are descriptive, and some of them are artsy. Have fun.