SLR Night Photography

[Chase55671]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Could this be stickied?

Doesn't appear that I am able to do so. Perhaps the admins can?

Chase

[MNJRR]

excellent advice, i dont have the time to read it all, but once i arrive at the station inn and things slow down i'll certainly give it a good read as i'll be buying a Canon Rebel XS in the near future and would love to take great time exposure shots.

[Ron H]

Chase,
When you "paint with light" do you hold the light on one spot or do you move the light around to other parts of the loco duing the exposure?
RH

[Walter S]

Originally Posted by Ron H

Chase,
When you "paint with light" do you hold the light on one spot or do you move the light around to other parts of the loco duing the exposure?
RH

Well im not Chase but when you paint with light you pretty much do what the name implies, paint. You slowly and evenly paint the entire frame with the light, you have to be careful though as if not done correctly it will leave streak marks which really take away from the photo. I recommend a flashlight of atleast 1 to two million candlepower.

Here are a couple examples.

PhotoID: 301761 Photograph © Walter Scriptunas II - www.scriptunasimages.com

PhotoID: 243685 Photograph © WalterS - www.scriptunasimages.smugmug.com

PhotoID: 243564 Photograph © WalterS - www.scriptunasimages.smugmug.com

[Chase55671]

Originally Posted by Ron H

Chase,
When you "paint with light" do you hold the light on one spot or do you move the light around to other parts of the loco duing the exposure?
RH

Ron,

I move the light around to whatever part of the subject I want to have light on. Generally, depending on the angle of which I am applying the light, I will paint the locomotives and the first couple of cars. The goal is to paint everything equally.

PhotoID: 296216 Photograph © Chase55671

The above shot was taken at 18". I painted the entire lead locomotive twice. Or In other words, going over the entire engine twice with my 2 million candlelight power spotlight.

This one was a bit more tricky, as I wanted to show off the first couple of cars to give viewers more to look at, but since the cars were further way from my camera/spotlight, I had to apply more light to them just to notice them.

PhotoID: 293783 Photograph © Chase55671

Hope this helps,
Chase

[cblaz]

Originally Posted by Walter S

Well im not Chase but when you paint with light you pretty much do what the name implies, paint. You slowly and evenly paint the entire frame with the light, you have to be careful though as if not done correctly it will leave streak marks which really take away from the photo. I recommend a flashlight of atleast 1 to two million candlepower.

Agreed. If you look at Walter's first shot, it seems there's a little tiny bit of streaking. Below are some examples where streaking can be noticed:

PhotoID: 200049 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

PhotoID: 237062 Photograph © Andrew Blaszczyk (2)

PhotoID: 237325 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

A lot of times, you don't need to light the whole scene, but just let the flashlight brighten certain areas, like a dark nose:

PhotoID: 217088 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

PhotoID: 207718 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

PhotoID: 193424 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

And some of my favorites, all lit by a $15 2-million candle flashlight from Home Depot:

PhotoID: 203005 Photograph © Andrew Blaszczyk (2)

PhotoID: 254280 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

PhotoID: 218845 Photograph © Christopher Blaszczyk

- Chris

[cblaz]

Originally Posted by Chase55671

Chase's two shots are the perfect example of the streaking effect that Walter talked about. Note how in the two photos, there are certain hot spots, in the grass and ballast especially, which the photographer illuminated with the flashlight more than the surrounding area.

- Chris

[Walter S]

Originally Posted by cblaz

Chase's two shots are the perfect example of the streaking effect that Walter talked about. Note how in the two photos, there are certain hot spots, in the grass and ballast especially, which the photographer illuminated with the flashlight more than the surrounding area.

- Chris

Exactly Chris, on mine the first was done with a Black in Decker light, unfortunately the width of the front isnt all that wide and does make it more trickier, I have been trying to find a larger one. it was alot more noticeable before I edited it also. The last two I used a friends light which had a very large front and seemed alot easier to paint with.

Just like real painting, the bigger the brush, the easier it is to fill a canvas.

[Chase55671]

I would also imagine it is far easier to light a steam engine. I've found that applying a spotlight to a modern diesel will generally result with an overpowering glare caused by the reflective tape. I've found this to be quite distracting and even in some cases, cause me to rely on ambient light for taking night images.

Chase

[Ron H]

Thanks Chase,
That helps a lot and now to do some brain storming and pay a visit to the FEC Fort Lauderdale yard some night real soon.
RH

[ottergoose]

Originally Posted by Chase55671

I've found that applying a spotlight to a modern diesel will generally result with an overpowering glare caused by the reflective tape. I've found this to be quite distracting and even in some cases, cause me to rely on ambient light for taking night images.

The problem there is shining the light from a position too close to your camera. That reflective tape reflects the light straight back towards the source, which, if you're standing next to your camera, will cause that glare. If you apply the light at an angle (standing some distance away from your camera) you should get better results.

We took this photo with a series of flashbulbs, none of which were near the camera. As a result, there's no glare on the tape:

PhotoID: 290247 Photograph © Nicholas Benson

[Walter S]

Originally Posted by Chase55671

I would also imagine it is far easier to light a steam engine. I've found that applying a spotlight to a modern diesel will generally result with an overpowering glare caused by the reflective tape. I've found this to be quite distracting and even in some cases, cause me to rely on ambient light for taking night images.

Chase

No, not really if you know what your doing.

[Chase55671]

Originally Posted by ottergoose

The problem there is shining the light from a position too close to your camera. That reflective tape reflects the light straight back towards the source, which, if you're standing next to your camera, will cause that glare. If you apply the light at an angle (standing some distance away from your camera) you should get better results.

We took this photo with a series of flashbulbs, none of which were near the camera. As a result, there's no glare on the tape:

Nick, thanks for the information. I'll definitely have to try this out! I would imagine my results would be far more appealing if the reflective tape wasn't a major distraction.

Chase