Starting Out

I started off with pretty modest equipment, before that I was borrowing from college and experimenting with some film from my recently inherited film equipment from my Grandpa. It was January 2007 when I made the step from lending and borrowing to getting a DSLR, I did a fair bit of research and used the knowledge I had already gained, I knew I wanted a Canon, I don’t why why it, it was a personal preference thing, Nikon didn’t feel right and back then the other companies were not exactly credible and just breaking the DSLR market. I also didn’t want to go entry level DSLR and out grow it straight away, but I also didn’t want to be a fool and go pro straight away and risk under using a vast piece of technology. So I went mid range, The model at the time was the EOS 30D, I did think about getting it’s predecessor the 20D but seen as it was a special purchase I thought i’ll go all the way, it came with a standard 18-55mm lens, it was so restricting but I was pretty poor after my purchase so I had to save for a better one. Plus it let me doing everything physically possible with it and out grow it, instead of just getting rid of it without even trying out it’s potential. I also picked up a speedlite 430ex flashgun and a standard 2GB card.

I was pretty happy and soon came across problems without a shutter release, so I bought one and again the options increased. After shooting 30 second photos for a while which was quite restricting exposure and light wise having the ability to extend that was just a breath of fresh air. I could increase my star trails, do more advanced lighting and not have to run through abandoned places to light things as quickly as possible.

I did have to use my lens fund to invest in a mac though, due to a PC crash and a loss of 10,000 images which was quite soul destroying, I haven’t had a problem with that mac in 6 years so, lets hope it keeps that way.

After much more saving I was finally able to afford a new lens, it had to be a wide angle and I had my eye on it for ages. Canon 10-22mm, the widest I could go on a cropped sensor, it was spectacular, going from 18mm to 10mm was unreal, I could get closer, lower and fir more in the frame, it was the breakthrough I had been waiting for.

My photos instantly got better, and I upped my game significantly.

After another short while my flashgun exploded one night, luckily I had insurance on it and got a nice sum for it’s replacement, I wen’t further up market to the 580ex, which was so much better then the previous, more settings better light control.

A few years gone by using the same equipment but improving my skills and techniques the equipment started to get a bit dated, especially with the shutter life on my 30D, I think the life expectancy was something like 30,000 and I had surpassed that by a lot. So it was saving time again, I knew what I wanted and it had only just came out, but quite a giant compared to it’s predecessor, by this time I think they were releasing the 50D but I had no interest in that. I wanted full frame, I wanted L glass, I wanted a better way of living. So I set my sights on the 5Dmkii with a 17-40mm wide angle and the 15mm fisheye. It was going to be a mammoth of a task and It wasn’t until 2010 that I completed the task spending well over £3,000 on upgrading my entire kit, including new, lenses, batteries, battery grip and because of the file size a few large compact flashes. I also treated myself to a new tripod as I didn’t want £3,000 worth of gear sat on a cheap tripod that was getting a bit old. I was finally home so to speak, I felt like God with the whole in my hands, I know that is a large statement to make but this camera gave me power and enabled me to do things that I could never do with my old camera. As for the old 30D, Selling it would never enter my mind, it has taken pride of place and the front of my collection, retired as a memory of what made me who I am.I was pretty happy and soon came across problems without a shutter release, so I bought one and again the options increased.

Where did it all begin?

The only reason I am so in love with photography, night photography and making films is because of my Grandpa, John Gilbert Jones, photography and astronomy was his life and it is something I have inherited. Unfortunately I was only just starting to get interested in photography when he died. I inherited all of his photography equipment and this started to fuel my obsession.

For the first few years I photographed and filmed me and my friends skateboarding using the camera I had inherited from my grandpa and some 35mm film, it really helped me to understand shutter speeds and apertures and it’s relation to the subject matter.

Me - photo by Stuart Turner

After doing terribly in my GCSE’s It confirmed the fact that I am not academic at all and the only thing I really understood was cameras so I enrolled myself at college doing Media and a Photography A-level. Throughout college my love for film deteriorated and my love for photography increased. After my Media I went back to college to do Photography because I didn’t want to go to university just yet and I did not want a 9-5. Once again my love for photography was confirmed and I came out of my shell even more.

In 2007 I started night photography and soon after I coined the word Noctography and made it my mission to make it as well known as possible to try and get the word in to the dictionary and actually make a credible name for myself.

Burn out - one of the first night pictures I ever took.

Noctography - What is it?

My name is Chris Benbow and i am a Night photographer. I am also known at [Nocturne] by most for my photography which can be seen on My Flickr I shoot nearly exclusively at night time in abandoned places. I have been a Night Photographer for a few years now and have developed my own style and invented my own word for it, Noctography. I decided to invent the word Noctography because i was so passionate about it. A lot of Night Photographers are already using it and I am hoping the word gets used so frequently that it becomes an official word in the english dictionary and I am credited and appreciated for the creation of the word.

Noctography involves taking photographs at night. Noctography can help capture things that your eyes can’t see. I use light painting to create a scene that you can’t see until the images has been taken. Light painting is a technique where you are using a flashgun or torch with coloured gels to ‘light paint’ inside of objects or buildings. I have perfected the technique over a few years and i feel like i have it down to an art now, but there is still room for learning and mistakes though.

Finding the places i go to usually takes a lot of internet research, driving around, discussing locations with other night photographers and even interesting phone conversations with owners of properties to gain permission for access to some of these places. Noctography is not a lonely hobby as my girlfriend and a few good friends who i go out with regularly to abandoned places to shoot at night so it becomes quite a social occasion.

Star Trails are another big part of Noctography. Leaving the camera taking a picture for about an hour can leave us with some spectacular results as we can see from these few pictures. While the earth rotates on it’s axis and the light from the stars produce their trail on to the image.