I’ve been to several nighttime art installations in gardens, and so when a friend organized our outing to Lightscape in late November 2025, I was thrilled to go. Also, I was determined to use it to create abstract photographs.
We had such a good time! The music was good; the food trucks and cocktail stations were appreciated on the cold evening; we paced ourselves around the crowds, and sat to enjoy the lights in the redroods; the music was impressive; and the vast number of installations throughout the garden made it the best such installation I’ve yet seen.
I haven’t done long exposures of this sort previously, and so (like any experimental photographer) I guessed. My handy Contax G2, Fuji 200 color film, and focusing before hitting the shutter button all worked well. Exposures of various durations were educational, and the results ranged from ‘dark with blurs’ to vivid legible forms. One and two second exposures gave me the results I hoped for.
My friends were also superb company. What a fun night.