Fragile Light at Night........Nasvhille

There's a bar/restaurant in East Nashville called The Family Wash. It was made out of a former laundromat, hence the name. East Nashville is a cozy enclave of artists and musicians, and The Family Wash is one hang out friendly to them as well as to families.




Part of the coziness results from the nice and friendly people; another part comes from the wood and the magnicifent available ambient light that wafts in but never directly from the big windows at the front. And of course, candles during the night time hours.



Here is my friend Spock, tending bar - these photos were taken last year, in May 2006 when I was staying in Tennessee for a couple months. First, Spock went on vacation to Mexico, and I stayed at her wonderful house and sat with her lovely dog, Shelby Todd, and her cat, Spice. When she returned, I stayed and we planned her house-warming party to celebrate her first year in Nashville. We are both LA natives who moved to NYC and neither of us are in NYC now...



Here's Julia, basking in the glow of the candles and low ambient lights. She watching Warren Pash perform some songs on acoustic guitar. Warren is the man in the shadow below. Illuminated is Reeves Gabrels, the guitarist. He has a regular gig at the Family Wash on Sundays. Loud Sundays, that is!



I don't like using a flash - not even at night or in dark situations where everyone else wouldn't hesitate to flash. I like capturing what my eye sees. Of course, the human eye compensates for darkness...the iris opens wide to let in more light. And you can do that with your camera too. Its become such a preference for me, that I'm not sure I even like fully illuminated vistas. I certainly don't like bright television lighting of sets.

I'm an available light lover all the way.




The photos of Warren and Reeves were taken outside, late at night. They're illuminated only by the street lamps, moonlight, passing car headlights and the sole light above the entrance to the restuarant.



Again...this kind of situation really calls for the film and camera to push themselves to their performance limits. My Nikon FM - the same one I've been using since 1973 - has a fast lens - 1.8 is the widest apeture. I used Kodak Professional BWCN400 film stock for these shots. Normally, I do shoot Tri X or T Max, but this is the kind of film you could get processed anywhere, as it is a C-41 process. So, you can do it at any 1-hour photo place. Its great when you're traveling. And as you can see, it performs exceptionally well in low light situations.



Interiors are my preferred locations...and I'll look to any source for illumination.