NIGHT COLORS

Night photography means a dramatic mix of colors. Mercury vapor street lamps, neon signs, the sky reflecting city lights, tungsten lamps -- all of these types of light produce different colors, and the combination can be quite compelling. I took this image in Chicago, and I think the colors make this work so well.

What is also significant is the fact that I placed the chrome hemisphere so close to the camera and I used a wide angle lens. This dramatized the foreground and made it disproportionately large. The camera was only three feet away. The closer you get with a wide angle lens to the subject, the more exaggerated (and distorted) it becomes. It's a very effective visual technique.