Tuesday, January 15, 2019

What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks?


I was lying in bed this morning (wondering what on earth I was going to blog about) when I decided to get up and get a drink of water. It was about 4:30 and not quite time to get up. Olga and Dave were both snoring away.

I came out to the kitchen and noticed a lot of light spilling across the living room floor. I thought, "Wow, there must be a full moon!" But when I came to the back door, I realized what I was seeing wasn't the moon at all. It was the light from a neighbors' distant window!

They have a globe-shaped ceiling fixture that clearly contains an approximately 3,000-watt bulb -- bright enough to illuminate our bird feeders and the plants in our back garden. This is a good example of something I wouldn't even have noticed when our next-door neighbor's gigantic Leyland cypress tree was intact. But now that the tree is gone, that light comes right at us.

As you can see, they were the only lit window in the whole neighborhood. Everyone else was sensibly asleep, or at least wandering around in a dark house.

The moon, by the way, is waxing gibbous at about 60 percent at the moment, and as I write this I'm not sure it's even above the horizon. I don't see it, but perhaps I am temporarily blinded by my neighbor's chandelier. (Looking now at a moonrise/moonset timetable, I see that it slipped below the horizon at 1:14 a.m.)

Getting that picture was no easy task. I had to shoot manually and I don't have a tripod, so I had to hold the camera as super-still as possible with a very high ISO and slow exposure (3.2 seconds) while standing outside the back door with my bare feet on the patio. Brrrr!

20 comments:

gz said...

A well shot shot! Nicely captured. People don't consider the effect of their lighting on others

Elizabeth said...

It does look very Romeo and Juliettish! Thanks for telling us how you got your shot -- I'd be very interested in hearing more technical stuff that you can share. Your pictures are just fascinating.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I guess the folk who live there are redundant lighthouse keepers trying to replicate the good times when they warned cargo boats to avoid the rocks and guided fishing boats towards their harbour.The residents probably stay awake all night in that room dancing hornpipes and singing sea shanties.

David said...

Well done!

crafty cat corner said...

How I envy people who know all about their camera. I suppose I could look it all up but all I do it point and shoot. lol
Briony
x

Anonymous said...

You got some amazing photography skills, mate. We had neighbours like that as well and trust me whenever I woke up in the middle of the night, I totally freaked out.

Easy Lighting Discount Codes

Vivian Swift said...

I would have thought that your heartbeat would be enough to jostle the camera during those long 3.2 seconds. But you got a wonderful shot.

Mr. Pudding's comment about your neighbors being out-of-work lighthouse keepers is funny. I keep a thermos of ice water on my night table so I never have to wander around in the middle of the night. Now I wonder what I'm missing.

Ms. Moon said...

Perhaps your neighbors are doing kitchen-table surgery in that room. I do believe they have enough light to work by.

Joanne said...

That is wild! Wonderful photo. Thank you!

Sharon said...

You captured this scene very well while standing in the cold. I can't imagine why someone would want a light in their house that bright. It must hurt the eyes from inside the house. Now while the mornings are dark, I put the ceiling light on in my bedroom while I make the bed. My light is not anywhere near as bright as this light and I still can't wait to turn it off as soon as the bed is made.

Red said...

There oughta be a law...about such bright lights. These shouldn't be allowed.

ellen abbott said...

why aren't they...blinded by the light?

Anonymous said...

That's a crazy bright light and a grand photo of it. Yikes, though, they need to turn that off.

Catalyst said...

We have a neighbor who has three outside lights on the back of his house that he infrequently "forgets" to turn off. They shine directly on the rear of our house and irritate the hell out of my wife. I just turn over and close my eyes.

You mention your "bare feet". I trust/hope the rest of your personage was more covered.

The Bug said...

What a great photo! You can even see the stars - very cool!

jenny_o said...

Wow, that's bright all right! I'm a night owl so the neighbours probably see our lights on when they have insomnia. But I use a lamp, not a 3000 watt bulb :)

Great picture, though. I've stood on a cold deck to get video so I can appreciate fully your dedication to getting this shot!

jenny_o said...

*in bare feet* I meant!

Allison said...

I can't imagine being in the same room with that light. Are they doing surgery up there or what?

Sue said...

Great photo! I've been watching too many crime dramas on Netflix lately and that makes me nervous!

37paddington said...

well, your effort paid off. crazy that one person's ceiling light can illuminate a neighborhood!