The streets at night. New year, new ventures...

I don't really get the time to shoot street photography at night, especially since the little one arrived, but I absolutely love it.

When the darkness sets in, light can really be used in imaginative and creative ways. I'm going through a strong colour phase at the moment and you get such vibrant imagery at night.

On Friday evening I found myself with a small window of free time and, rather than continuing with my project on the local area, I grabbed my gear and headed up the road to pastures new.

Milton Keynes is a location that's been on my radar to shoot street photography for a while now and being somewhere different gave me added motivation and inspiration.

I must admit, I wasn't feeling particularly creative and time was against me (never great conditions for producing good work!), but sometimes you've just got to push yourself. 

Rather than wander aimlessly around I decided to focus on a small section of MK where there are a cluster of restaurants and bars, and work that area to see what I could produce. As it turned out, in the short time I was there I got some decent images and it was a really productive session. It doesn't always pan out that way!

Increasingly I've been drawn to photographer Olaf Sztaba, closely following his work and style. He concentrates his photography on what he describes as 'visuals', using observation, composition and light to produce artistic work.

Coming from an art background myself, the importance of seeing and creating photographs in this way resonates with me. For more on Olaf's photographic philosophy and to see his great images, check him out at https://olafphotoblog.com

After an hour or so of wandering around and happy with what I'd managed to capture, I headed back to the car.

Although I predominantly shoot street I'm a sucker for a light trail and, with another half an hour to spare and the pressure off, I couldn't resist having a bit of fun with the lights on cars and buses as they passed by. There's a funny story to go with this aspect of the evening, but that's for another day!

Whatever your passion is, be it creative or otherwise, carve out some time for yourself.

Dedicate time to it.

Research. Learn. Grow.

Push yourself to do what inspires you. Force yourself if you have to...

See a few more images from the session below and Happy New Year!

Sonny

(All images in this blog post owned by Sonny Nathan and shot on 12/01/18 with Fujifilm XT1/56mm and X100T)