Artistic photography in the dark

[clickclick]

I saw some shots from an artistic photographer once and it looked amazing. I was wondering how he did it as I would like to have a play around with that myself! Ha ha. It may be really hard but im so curious. It looked like a black photo with swirls of light in it - sort of like when you swing your sparkler around. Im a complete noob and dont know your technical terms but basically i figure he left the shutter open for ages without movement on tripod and used a torch to create the swirls of light? Anyone have any ideas on how to do this or what settings?

[kmaisch]

Hey Clickclick.

Trial and error basically In the dark, put your camera on a tripod, set it to Manual mode, set the shutter speed to 30 seconds, and start with the widest aperture (smaller F-stop numbers).

Hit the shutter, then jump in the frame with a torch or sparklers or something... swirl them around and wait until you hear the camera click off after 30 seconds Then see the results.

If its too bright, bump the aperture up a bit. If it's still too dark, you'll need a way to extend the shutter speed (with a remote on the "Bulb" setting). Or increase the ISO.

Here are some cool examples: http://digital-photography-school.co...ainting-images

I think in some of these examples, they've also used the Flash at the end of the exposure to illuminate something else (like a person).

Kim

[swifty]

See this thread:
http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ad.php?t=37619
AP member Shane.R is a master at this style of photography.
But u got the concept right. Long shutter speed on tripod + a source of light to create your 'art'. You're only limited by your imagination.

[clickclick]

thanks heaps guys, that's fantastic.. will read up on it after my holidays! * Edited- Site Rules state classifieds (Buy/Sell or trade) most only be discussed in classifieds - Admin * still no luck!! Anyway, will post my experiments when i get started. cheers again for the info...

[reaction]

you wouldn't believe how many bad shots it takes to get 1 good tho

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day CC

This is one of the 'night-games' I put my students to on a Level-2 photo workshop
- and yes, it takes a bit of practice to get a good 'keeper'

What I suggest for you is
1- go out to your local $2 shop and buy a packet of sparklers, and a bicycle LED front & rear light set (ones that flash as well as shine)

2- before dinner one night, set up camera on tripod in back yard, set focus to manual, place a marker on the grass and pre-focus on it, set aperture to f5.6, set shutter to "30-secs"

3- after a dinner where you consume lots of good food & wine ...... get your dinner companion/helper to help here ...

4- set camera's self-timer to 2-seconds, while the helper lights the sparkler

5- run and dance like a mad-chook over the top of your marker

6- exchange sparklers with bicycle lights, 'on' and 'flashing'

7- keep going till all sparklers are burned and batteries are flat
8- and by-the-way, you are not expected to have fun with this exercise ......

Regards, Phil
ps [Kane - you might like this as an idea too ~ naturally there are more variations as well]

[[ kane ]]

G'day CC

This is one of the 'night-games' I put my students to on a Level-2 photo workshop
- and yes, it takes a bit of practice to get a good 'keeper'

What I suggest for you is
1- go out to your local $2 shop and buy a packet of sparklers, and a bicycle LED front & rear light set (ones that flash as well as shine)

2- before dinner one night, set up camera on tripod in back yard, set focus to manual, place a marker on the grass and pre-focus on it, set aperture to f5.6, set shutter to "30-secs"

3- after a dinner where you consume lots of good food & wine ...... get your dinner companion/helper to help here ...

4- set camera's self-timer to 2-seconds, while the helper lights the sparkler

5- run and dance like a mad-chook over the top of your marker

6- exchange sparklers with bicycle lights, 'on' and 'flashing'

7- keep going till all sparklers are burned and batteries are flat
8- and by-the-way, you are not expected to have fun with this exercise ......

Regards, Phil
ps [Kane - you might like this as an idea too ~ naturally there are more variations as well]

Oh yes -done this few times -lots of fun.



Thanks
Kane

[milesy]

love that effect Kane.....never tried it but would like to some time

[Shane.R]

Hey Clickclick.

Trial and error basically In the dark, put your camera on a tripod, set it to Manual mode, set the shutter speed to 30 seconds, and start with the widest aperture (smaller F-stop numbers).

Hit the shutter, then jump in the frame with a torch or sparklers or something... swirl them around and wait until you hear the camera click off after 30 seconds Then see the results.

If its too bright, bump the aperture up a bit. If it's still too dark, you'll need a way to extend the shutter speed (with a remote on the "Bulb" setting). Or increase the ISO.

Here are some cool examples: http://digital-photography-school.co...ainting-images

I think in some of these examples, they've also used the Flash at the end of the exposure to illuminate something else (like a person).

Kim

Interesting to see some old pix, the sceond last photo in the link 'BrentBat' (the blue light source provided by me) BrenbtBat usually works with enviromental light and has produced fantastic work. (he runs work shops up in Sydney)

Sparklers are fun and I still use them - but ya gotta love the steel wool

[clickclick]

thank you all for the info.. cant wait to give it a go once i start! Love the pic too kane but cant seem to see the bottom (flickr) one shane.

[stapes11]

This can create some really amazing photos, but as said before it can take many attempts before you are happy with the shot.
Just have a good play around