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Lightpainting the Great OutdoorsWorkshop at the Ranch
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Last month I addressed Lightpainting subjects the industry would label as "Table Top" subjects in the studio. This month I thought it would be good to follow up that article by talking about Lightpainting in an outdoor environment. Each of these Lightpaintings feature a strong use of color, environment, weather conditions and of course Lightpainting. Some of the basics of Lightpainting should be kept in mind as you read this article ... Tripod, Use the Long Exposure Noise Reduction Mode, Hand Held spot lights ...etc, etc. ( NOTE: For those new to Lightpainting you should review past Workshop at the Ranch articles for a basic understanding of Lightpainting in order to fully grasp this months Workshop at the Ranch. ) Now that you have reviewed the previous Lightpainting articles, let's have a look at the great outdoors as I see it using Lightpainting ..........
Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this continuation
of Lightpainting from last months Workshop at the Ranch article.
Four very different images each with there own stylized look accomplished
with Lightpainting.
Past Workshop at the Ranch Issues
May, 2010
April, 2010
March, 2010
February, 2009
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
September, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
July, 2008 |
Image
#1 Cosmic Aspens ... Each fall I look forward to my favorite
workshop week of the year, Rich Clarkson's Photography at
the Summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The combination of
the Teton Range, fall colors, great workshop faculty, Rich's
stories, cowboy atmosphere, and fly fishing with Ron, make
this week very special to me. I usually arrive a few days
before the workshop to fly fish with one of my best friends
Ron Taniwaki. After a day of fishing on the Snake River
it's dinner time at the Gun Barrel and then off to scout
for a Lightpainting location before the sun sets. Ron is
a great photographer and very accomplished when it comes
to Lightpainting. We found this perfect stand of yellow
Aspens surrounded by fire red maple bushes about 6 miles
from Wilson, Wyoming outside of Jackson Hole. The clear
skies gave us the perfect opportunity to photograph a giant
star field and then reveal our subject, the trees, with
Lightpainting. We each went our own way regarding composition.
Ron shot a vertical image from a location 50 yards to my
left while I chose a wide horizontal. Once the sun had set
and twilight was finished I set my exposure for the stars
in the sky above the trees (take a shot and take a look.)
The North Star is centered in the top of the frame. This
positioning will help reduce the recorded motion of the
stars during the long exposure. My wide angle lens choice,
12mm, will also minimize the stars recorded movement during
the long exposure time. Nikon D200, ISO400, 2 Minute Exposure
at f4, Nikon 12-24mm Lens, WB 4000K, Nikon MC-20 Electronic
Shutter Release with camera set on Bulb, Gitzo Carbon Fiber
Tripod, SLIK Super Ball Head, Kirk L Bracket, Two Brinkmann
QBeam 2 Million Candle Spot Lights, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
The long exposure time of 2 minutes in combination with
an ISO of 400, f4 aperture, clear Wyoming sky and our mountain
elevation of over 5000 feet revealed over 300 stars in the
sky above the trees! My trees were of course in silhouette
until I revealed them with Lightpainting. I used a Self
Timer Mode of 20 seconds so I could press the shutter and
have 20 seconds of time to jog to a position 50 yards to
the cameras left and Lightpaint. This is one of my favorite
Lightpaintings to date. The brilliant colors of Yellow and
Red underneath a massive star filled sky is both beautiful
and unique. Ron's image from another location was equally
impressive with a spectacular star field rising above the
Lightpainted aspen grove. We both exercised patience by
alternating our shots so our individual Lightpainting would
not effect each others image.
Image #2 Abandoned Days ... Still in Jackson Hole, a few
days after our Cosmic Aspen picture, Ron and I headed out
at 5:00am to Lightpaint before dawn. While Ron chose to Lightpaint
some Cotton Wood trees near a stream I chose this small abandoned
farm across the road. The majority of this image is the predawn
ambient light conditions where I set my exposure to underexpose
the sky by a stop and then reveal my subject, the run down
barn, with a shaft of Lightpainting across its side wall and
the adjacent tall grass. Without the Lightpainting the barn
would be in silhouette but the addition of Lightpainting brings
the image alive as though a sliver of sunlight had cut across
the land. Nikon D200, ISO100, 15 Seconds at f22, Nikon 10.5mm
Fisheye Lens ( fisheye corrected in Nikon Capture NX ), WB
3600K, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod, SLIK Super Ball Head, Kirk
L Bracket, Two Brinkmann QBeam 2 Million Candle Spot Lights,
Self Timer 20 Seconds to position myself far to the right
of the camera, Lexar 4G Flash Card. I chose the Nikon 10.5mm
Fisheye Lens to compliment the swirling cloud formation above
my subject. The cool blue WB of 3600K gave great drama to
the scene while the warm shaft of Lightpainting brought attention
to my subject. The use of underexposed ambient light and Lightpainting
is a wonderful combination.
Image #3 Martin Mill ... This day began different than
most .......... First, I was in North Carolina ... Second,
I had my first taste of Liver Mush at Ken and Mary's Diner.
This Lightpainting was shot as part of 3 days of teaching
at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina
which happens to be the school that my daughter, Haley,
attends as a Photography major. Gardner-Webb University
has an outstanding photography program that is headed up
by Dr. Bob Carey. This was the perfect opportunity to visit
my daughter at school and have some fun teaching her and
her fellow college students. Once the subject of Lightpainting
came up in class Bob suggested that we find someplace that
would serve as a good subject for a Lightpainting. We found
the old Martin Mill in the town of Ladimore about 15 miles
from campus. With 10 students in tow ( including my daughter
) we set out for the mill just before sunset ... had a little
dinner at the towns restaurant ... and then had a course
in Lightpainting that included each student making their
own Lightpainting of the old Martin Mill. A fog settled
in around us during the evening and by the time it was my
turn to make the final picture of the night the mill was
engulfed in a soup like fog. I Lightpainted the towers from
behind the main building then walked around to the side
and Lightpainted the building itself. The spot lights illuminated
the fog with an ire glow. I used a combination of a cool
blue camera WB of 2500K and then placed Yellow Gels over
the front of my Brinkmann QBeam spot lights to add a gray/green
color cast to the fog and structures. I like this image
a lot. Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 2 minutes 30 seconds at f5.6,
Bulb setting with Nikon MC-20 Electronic Shutter Release,
Nikon 12-24mm Lens, WB 2500K, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod,
SLIK Super Ball Head, Kirk L Bracket, Two Brinkmann 2 Million
Candle Spot Lights with Yellow Gels, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
No self timer needed as students tripped the shutter for
one another once they were in position to Lightpaint. This
image demonstrates that often times adverse weather can
add great feeling and drama to a picture .... as one student
said, "looks like a hurricane is about to hit.".
Image #4 Wonderland ... I finally arrived home after three
weeks of work on the road and woke up the next morning with
2 feet of snow blanketing Colorado. This was something I had
been hoping for, Lightpainting a snow scene. I quickly got
out of bed, jumped into some warm clothes, grabbed my D2Xs,
Tripod and Brinkmann QBeams and stepped outdoors only 5 feet
from my front door. The sky was growing lighter with each
passing second so I worked fast and made a test shot ..........WOW,...
ISO100, 7 seconds at f22 ..... I had only enough time to make
about 5 images before the sky would gain too much ambient
light. I aimed my spot lights at the top of the big pine tree
for about 4 seconds and then illuminated the pine branches
in the foreground for the remaining 3 seconds. This is difficult
to make work because there is so little time to Lightpaint
but I felt successful and encouraged by the results. Nikon
D2Xs, ISO100, 7 seconds at f22, Nikon 12-24mm Lens, WB 3600K,
Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod, SLIK Super Ball Head, Kirk L Bracket,
Two Brinkmann QBeam 2 Million Spot Lights, Self Timer 10 seconds
to position myself off to the right of the camera, Lexar 4G
Flash Card. I love this picture. It reminds me of a storybook
entrance to an enchanted wonderland. Sometimes all it takes
is a little "dash" of Lightpainting in combination
with the ambient light to set the mood.
