26 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2017
Above: Children with flashlights climb the Daugherty Tower
at Platte River State Park. Nikon D750, Samyang 14mm f/2.8.
Exposure: f/3.5, ISO 2000, 25 seconds.
Opposite: Waterfall at Platte River State Park. Nikon D750,
Samyang 14mm f/2.8. Exposure: f/2.8, ISO 6400, 30 seconds.
T
ime slows down when you're shooting photos at night. A single
shot can take half a minute to produce, so there's plenty of time to
think, to plan the next image, to look up at the stars and appreciate
the serenity of the moment.
"It's my sanctuary," says Zach Hanson of Omaha. The 39-year-old
funeral director and father of two fell in love with night photography
several years ago during a camping trip, and now uses his hobby as a
way to de-stress from the pressures of the day.
"This is my therapy," Hanson says. "When I go out at night, I find
peace in it."
Hanson is self-taught, and takes pride in his hands-on methods. For
example, to darken particularly harsh light in the foreground, Hanson
will continuously move his hand or another object in front of the
light while the camera exposes the image, a technique he picked up
from a video about dark room techniques. It might be quicker to use a
filter, combine separate images or perform these actions afterward in
Photoshop, but Hanson prefers his "old-fashioned" style.
