Last Light (and Why I Like Photography)

My best friend said the chair looked so lonely.

I had a great time taking photos at Point Lobos yesterday. As usual, I shot till there was only a shred of light left to pack my gear and walk back from the shore. On the trail, it was dark and I could hardly see anything. However, I noticed the chair was the only thing visible in the dark, with its wooden panel reflecting the last light of the day. Having taken a photo of it earlier (to help me seeing the quality of the afternoon light), I suddenly got curious. What would it look like now?

I was not sure if the reflected light on the chair was enough, but I didn't have a flash with me to try the "light painting" technique, so I took out a 2f stop graduated ND (my filters were ordered in such a way that I didn't have to rely on my eyes to find the right one, something I learned from experience), set up my tripod, and did a 20-second exposure at f5.6. (I had to hand held the filter since it's too dark to put the filter holder on.) 

In the end, the trail border marker was too annoying to make the photo a usable one (something I definitely didn't spot in the dark). But I learned something about the light. How the last light of a day can isolate a subject and gives it an almost mythical quality (very much like a stage light). This is why I like photography. You always learn something from your failure. A failure is not only a failure, it's also a discovery and a creativity breakthrough. It is a lesson I hope to apply to the other aspects of my life.