Double Exposure (Repeat Offender?)

Night Flakes

3:30 AM:

In the low 20's and snowing -- big, fluffy, snow-globe-like flakes drifting lazily towards the ground like down feathers. (I think I saw two that were exactly alike, but admittedly didn't have my glasses on and I lost them when they joined the million of other flakes accumulating on the store parking lot.) Luckily, I had my camera inside, so I went in, got it, and come back out. Photography is an obsessive addiction of mine, and since nobody was around I thought it would be fun to try and get some cool images of snowflakes at night.

I took shots of the snow coming down from various angles, then laid down on the parking lot and used macro mode to try and get images of the flakes as they landed. I tried different shutter speeds, apertures and modes but wasn't satisfied with what I was getting. Then I looked at the car.

I had borrowed my former wife's car and had parked it at one of the pumps earlier by request of the snowplow driver, so as it wouldn't be in his way as he cleared our parking lot. The car was still sitting under the brights lights so I thought it might be better to try and get shots of the flakes as they landed on the vehicle. Again, I tried various angles; kneeling, looking down, laying down, looking up . . . and then I heard a car pulling up behind me. I turned around to look. It was a police car.

Without my glasses on I at first thought it was a cop who stops by often (my own form of officer profiling, I suppose, since they're both bald) so I smiled and waved. It wasn't who I thought it was.

The policeman pulled up close and rolled down his window. With a concerned, suspicious and perhaps cautious look and tone he asked, "Can I help you?" 
"No thank you, I'm doing fine," I replied.
"What are you doing?," he asked.
"Just taking photos," I said.

I had to do a bit more explaining before his suspicions seemed to subside.

It wasn't the first time this has happened to me. One cold, rainy, sleepless night in late October, during one of my nights off, I ventured out to take night photos of fall foliage. (See Night Fall: A Visit to Another Graveyard.)  At one point I was laying on my back in a puddle on a sidewalk under a Norway Maple, working on a shot of the underside of golden leaves above with water drops dripping down. . . and then I heard a car pulling up behind me. I turned around to look. It was a police car.

The policeman pulled up close and rolled down his window. With a concerned, suspicious and perhaps cautious look and tone he asked, "Can I help you?"
"No thank you, I'm doing fine," I replied.
"What are you doing?," he asked.
"Just taking photos," I said. 

I had to do a bit more explaining before his suspicions seemed to subside.