Archive for the ‘low light’ Category
Saturday, 2008 · Popularity: 80% · journal, low light
Last night we went to see the fireworks display in Auburn. It was a very enjoyable night to have even just an hour or so to hang out with some friends and family while we waited for the fireworks. The fireworks display that the city of Auburn Alabama puts on each year is great, and we have been to see fireworks all over the country.
This year they started a little early, we presume because a storm was on its way, but they were still great to see. I decided to take my camera equipment and do some fireworks photography this year. I have not shot any public fireworks display in many years, but still came away with a few good shots (see full gallery here).
Normally when doing fireworks photography you want to setup using a sturdy tripod so you can use your remote shuttle release in manual mode, but I found another Auburn photographer on Twitter (ToomersCoffee) who also got some great shots hand holding with a faster ISO.
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.
Tuesday, 2008 · Popularity: 61% · image of the day, low light
Low light photography is probably one of my favorite genres of photography. It has so many possibilities and you can really get something special that the eye doesn’t always notice. One easy way to try out low light photography is with the upcoming 4th of July holiday for those here in the U.S.
The camera is going to record any light source you have, so the bright lights of a fireworks display or something like this sparkler above is good place to start. The only light source in the photo above is the sparkler, but notice it also is enough to light up the subject as well.
This week I am going to try to highlight several more low light images for the image of the day post. You can also see these on my low light gallery on flickr. What is your favorite type of image? Landscape, nature, people?
Friday, 2008 · Popularity: 20% · image of the day, low light
Well we finally got some lightening (and a little rain) over in this part of the state last night. Here is an image I took last night during the storm. One of my most favorite subjects in photography, lightening. It is so hard to get it just right, and it is nature at its most glorious.
A Few Things About Photographing Lightening
(1) Safety - you don’t actually want to get struck. If you can be in a protected area, best to not be holding a tall metal tripod during a storm, you might as well go play golf at the same time.
(2) Camera - you need a camera that can do an open shutter exposure. This is usually called a “bulb” setting, where you can depress the shutter release and leave it open for an undetermined amount of time.
(3) Rain, Usually - You probably want to try to get the lightening that will show up prior to the rain. This is not always possible, but it is hard to photograph during the rain storm that follows a frontal line.
(4) Technique - the most common way to photograph lightening is to use a shutter release. Open the shutter for a few seconds and wait until you see some light. Then close the shutter. Do this over and over and over and hope that you actually get a bolt in the photo. You will want to use a wide lens to get as much coverage of the sky as possible. Usually once you see some light it will blow out the image if you leave the shutter open any longer, so just a few bolts at a time unless it is really dark.
The object would be to try and get several bolts in one exposure. This is not as easy as it sounds, but makes for a great shot. If you try this, think safety first, nothing else.
Image Specifics
- Body - Nikon D100
- Lense - Nikon 24-120mm @ 24mm setting
- F-stop - f/5.6
- Exposure - 3.8 seconds (using shutter release cable)
This image was one that turned out ok. I took probably 100 within about 10 minutes that did not. It is not an exact science by any means.
Thursday, 2008 · Popularity: 33% · image of the day, low light
I wanted to throw something a little different in there today for the image of the day, like an image of the night instead. One of my favorite times to shoot anything, photography related of course, is first light, last light, and at night. At night you can get some really unique perspectives you can’t get at high noon during the day.
This is a shot of a Birmingham Alabama downtown street at night. The exposure was around 10 seconds if I can remember correctly, but depending on the speed film you can take images with totally different results, in the same place, just by changing the speed film (or now the ISO rating on your digital camera).
Image Specifics
- Body - Nikon n90s
- Lens - Nikon 24-120mm
- Film - Kodak E-100
- Shutter - about 10 seconds
What images have you been able to capture at night, how did they turn out?
