It's getting cold out there. A huge shift from the last month where even November felt like it was still clinging on to the end of summer for a while. I have missed the cold, but I'm painfully unprepared for it this time around. I had to throw away a lot of clothes that just haven't been replaced. I feel the cold this year. I feel it a lot. Layers of long sleeves don't help much. The fingerless gloves that usually would keep me shooting and warm no longer seem to do so. I quickly feel the cold air in the hands as my fingers stiffen. My ears freeze up. I don't remember being so vulnerable to the cold like this but perhaps it really is just that lack of preparation. I checked the weather yesterday and to my surprise it had already reached below 0 in the evenings.
I have struggled to be out in the streets as much as I'd like to. From juggling the attempts to find more work to the enjoyment of exploration to relax the mind a bit. As it gets dark so early now, it also means shooting almost entirely in the darkness, which I also don't mind a whole lot but it can be a bit limiting. I've been longing for those wintery nights in pubs, a few pints of beer to warm up with as the alcohol hits. These aren't really the days for getting out and roaming around. My attempts to do so have mostly failed. I understand why so many cling to the Christmas markets scattered throughout the city, where the warmth of market stalls fills the air. Hot coffee and mulled wine. Little fires to gather around.
Tonight I walked to one of those Christmas markets which is a little out of the city. Inside a huge old Soviet era factory. A magnificent building. Though no bus goes directly to it due to its odd location. Most people would drive there, but some like me chose to walk. I took routes through the old alleyways beneath the old city. Soviet buildings and pre-Soviet showing the ruins of a significantly older Armenia. Mostly evident from the old stone that was used back then compared to the Soviet method. Beneath the dimly lit alleyways, leaves scattered around. The only warmth came from the few dull lights that would show some signs of life within the buildings around the ground level.
Yerevan's a small city and its residential spaces get dark fast. Where there aren't many artificial lights around beyond the cars. In some ways I like it, in other ways I feel a bit bored trying to find places to shoot in knowing the best places are just the main streets in the already small centre. I think that sometimes that's a good thing though, to feel a bit stuck with photography, as it can enforce a new perspective. Encouraging you to try different things and try to make something work that you otherwise wouldn't notice. Or perhaps even a different method entirely. Whether it's long exposures or flash. I also do enjoy that darkness sometimes. It does add some variety to other areas. Perhaps not for the photography side of things, but a city coated in some darker areas than others makes for exploring it feeling a bit more new.
These days modern cameras have some astonishing low light capabilities. Some can push an ISO way up and see very little noise. Though I'm not quite there yet. I've been accumulating some new lenses and filters, slowly adding to the gear instead of throwing so much money at a camera. As I've said a million times before: I can't wait to be able to upgrade it finally. And all of the accumulated gear work so perfectly with it, heightening the creative potential more.