Graz After Dark

Last night I was a little melancholy, so to keep from brooding too much I grabbed my camera and headed out onto the streets of Graz to see what I could see. I don't have a tripod for my camera and up to this point all the night shots I've ever tried to take have been hopelessly blurred...no matter how still I tried to be. Last night I took this as a challenge. Whenever I found an interesting scene I'd scan my surroundings for solid places on which to set my camera, and then snap the pictures using a timer. Not every shot was a success, but I did manage to capture at least a few interesting sights...

The Herz Jesu Kirche--largest church in Graz--as seen from the Schlossberg...

...a glowing Rathaus plaza...

...the "friendly alien" blinking on...

...and off...

...and on again...

...in a random pattern that kept off-kilter time with waves of booming dance music circulating throughout the city from a night club underneath the bridge (if you look closely you can see a trail of little love locks glinting along its railing).

Nearby, the floating island cast otherworldly colors onto the river...

...and onto me as I wandered its winding passages...

Street portraits seemed to take on a new vibrancy under the cover of darkness, as though preparing to peel away from their stone canvases and make some friendly mischief among the throngs of unsuspecting night goers...

Eventually I wandered toward Jakominiplatz to catch a Strassenbahn back to the heim..

...and paused for a final picture in front of a fountain...

...the mundane suddenly transformed into the magical...