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Photograph Light Trails
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 9:40 PM on January 8, 2008
The Digital Photography School blog has a great beginner's guide to capturing an effect familiar to fans of middle-brow films and photo exhibits—light trails. Any camera with a full-featured "manual" mode that grants exposure control can capture light movement, and the guide helps you plan good trail shots. For instance:
Timing/Light - One might think that the middle of the night is the best time for light trail photography (and it can be) - however one very effective time to do it is just as the sun is going down (just before and after). If you shoot at this time you'll not only capture light from cars, but ambient light in the sky which can add atmosphere to your shots.With a little practice (and a healthy dose of patience), your street and nightlife photos will stand out. Photo by Waka Jawaka.
Tags: digital photo | digital photography | how to | photography | photography tip
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
DeeJayQueue
Posted 7:31 AM 8/1/08
In the absence of a cable release or the modern equivalent, most cameras have a 2 second timer delay that you can set, so you can hit the shutter and move your hand away, giving things time to settle down. Even the most rock solid tripods bend a bit when pushing the shutter button, and I tend to be kinda ham-handed, so the delay button has saved me plenty of times.
DeeJayQueue
Kevin Purdy
Posted 8:34 AM 8/1/08
@jorsch: Wow. Your attention to detail during the morning hours is admirable. I hadn't noticed!
Kevin Purdy
middy
Posted 8:05 AM 8/1/08
This article is about shooting light trails, not about carving pumpkins.
For that, you need a pumpkin. And a knife.
If you want to improve your pumpkin carving, you will need to look elsewhere than this article. I suggest a basic deadtrees pumpkin carving primer, since they are better researched, written and edited than 99% of online pumpkin carving guides.
middy
jorsch
Posted 8:02 AM 8/1/08
Uhhh, either that photo was taken in England or it has been mirrored, because the taillights are on the left and the headlights are on the right.
jorsch
Michaelwon
Posted 7:42 AM 8/1/08
Hey, now that's a useful piece!
Michaelwon
Deprong Mori
Posted 7:35 AM 8/1/08
This article is about shooting light trails, not about general nightlife and street photography since the long exposure times won't really freeze any action.
For that, you need flash or shorter exposure times. And if you use flash, use second-curtain sync.
If you want to improve your overall nighttime and street photography, you will need to look elsewhere than this article. I suggest a basic deadtrees photography primer, since they are better researched, written and edited than 99% of online photography guides.
Deprong Mori
dabbly
Posted 7:07 AM 8/1/08
My small digital camera has a setting on it called night scene that leaves the shutter open for a longer time. This is good not only for photographing architecture at night, but also light trails as i found out when I was in Italy this summer. see this photo [flickr.com]
dabbly
jamstar
Posted 12:34 PM 8/1/08
So cool, thanks for the post and the comments. Just moved near a busy road, now I've found a cool reason to balance out the sometimes annoying noise.
jamstar