Darkness before the Light
As days are growing longer with the spring equinox around the corner, I’d like to share a few night images taken in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. First though, an apology: many of us refer to this profoundly perilous time as the “darkness before the light”. And when will this darkness let up? As cycles in nature remind us, we can only hope that things will gradually grow brighter.
Appreciating the quality and different tones of artificial light and shadows is one of the keys to photographing our night visions and the images that can be captured. After the sun has set, the atmosphere of a place, be it in a town or in the country, takes on a different, at times eerie, quality. In fact, color may be even more striking. Churches at night here are usually lit up, creating a glow. They might even be make for a background, almost a prop as seen in the slide show below of colorful, almost psychedelic, fishing or trapeze-like nets. A feast for the eyes.
Shooting at night can be challenging — even a tad intimidating without a tripod to keep things steady. Thanks to my iPhone in hand though, I can enter another world. Atmosphere, be it bright and lively as in mariachis playing or more lonely as an Edward Hopper bar, is often best defined in a darker environment.
Below, is a carriage driver awaiting for the newly married couple. White and gold satin seats, a bouquet of roses and baby’s breath and the driver’s large sombrero made for a perfect combination. An intriguing element — and something I didn’t catch before, is the man behind the church metal fence.
Other perfect night moments to capture take place during holidays such as the Day of the Dead, Easter offering or simply one of many concerts in the main plaza or Jardin.
In a more mundane, daily — or rather, nightly — manner, we might encounter a boy selling corn in the market as well as canteen-like bar doors from another era, a bodega with a motorcycle on the street, and a market’s sealed blood red and turquoise metal doors.
