Civil Twilight

According to the National Weather Service, civil twilight “begins in the morning, or ends in the evening, when the geometric center of the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon.” I learned this phrase from Denise Wilton’s Walknotes and was immediately smitten by it. When, in early April, it was announced that the final project for my photography class would be a subject of my own choosing, “Civil Twilight” was the immediate frontrunner.

My parameters were set — I would shoot only during the 30-or-so minutes of civil twilight, immediately after the sun has gone down. I quickly realized that I didn’t have the chops for this ambitious project. Shooting without a flash in low light is technically difficult, but I had a tripod and about five nights — and at least one morning — to figure it out. In the end the subject became the arrival of night itself. The easing of the day’s tensions into the domesticity of warmly lit windows. The unattended spotlight keeping watch in back of a building. The transience of evening traffic. These ten photos were submitted as my final portfolio.