This is a photo I took on the night of Tuesday, June 11, 2002 from the south shore of Austin's Town Lake near Landry’s Restaurant.

At the time I was enrolled in a photography class at the University of Texas through the Texas Union Informal Classes program. My class assignment that week was to take night time pictures using existing light - no flash. That evening I ended up along the shore of Austin’s Town Lake. I set up my Nikon N65 on a tripod and took several time exposure pictures.

For my last shot I decided to try something different. I set the camera for a 30 second exposure. Using a wireless remote I triggered the shutter open. After 25 seconds, I grabbed the camera and moved it side-to-side and forward during the final five seconds of the exposure.

The effect was dramatic and unique. The long, 25 second still exposure captures the buildings and the reflections of lights in the water. The 5 second camera movement at the end of the exposure only captures the brightest lights, particularly the bright green light on the right side. All the swirls in the sky can be traced to a bright light source

e-mail me at chris@chrisguinn.com

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updated 09/27/2005