Last month we had a light painting competition. My friend and I really wanted to win and thought we had won when the event in-charge as well as the other participants said they absolutely loved our work. Unfortunately we came second - we later found out that they make their own students win which is ridiculous!
Anyway on a more positive not today is my friend's birthday. She is the one in the picture. So that's a good thing :D Happy Birthday buddy! May God bless you and hope you have a great year ahead! :)
If you're reading this I hope you've watched our short film The Drive
If you have watched it you'll recognise today's picture from the end credits.
This is where we shot the station scene towards the end of the film. This has got to be the most beautiful and well maintained station I've visited in India. It's really small and there are very few people but it's beautiful.
This is a long exposure shot taken just as the blue hour was ending. We were waiting for a train to take us back home. We were exhausted after the shoot but were really happy since this is the place we got the best shots. A lot of the scenes were shot not far from the station.
In fact you can see two of my friends sitting on the bench on the right of the photograph.
It's Christmas eve people! Now I know there are people who don't celebrate which is why I must say that I have no intention of offending you with today's post.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
We do not know when the Lord Jesus Christ actually came down to earth but what we are sure of is that He came down to free us from our bonds of sin. He gave up His life so that we could be saved from our impending doom - eternal destruction in the lake of fire.
Thanks to God's unending love we now no longer have to fear and no longer have to serve sin and Satan. All we have to do to have eternal life and an everlasting and personal relationship with God, our creator is accept that we are sinners and believe in the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since I probably won't be online much till I get back home I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
A few days back we had really amazing light somewhere around midnight. We had a full moon and some amazing clouds that just made the night light one from a painting.
I was out for a very long time just staring at the sky. It was so beautiful that I didn't notice time flying by.
The moon looked amazing when it rose yesterday and I didn't think the night could get any better because it was already just so very beautiful.
Then around midnight I was proved wrong. The sky just seemed to come alive. The clouds were amazing and the moonlight highlighted every last one of the beautiful clouds. Honestly pictures don't do justice to what I saw. It was just that beautiful.
Although I love summer this makes me miss the foggy winter months.
This was taken sometime in January when we had really thick fog. I shared a similar photograph a while back and quite a few of you thought it was the sun - it isn't. It's a simple street lamp.
I tried my hand at long exposures recently. It's tricky when you have no filters whatsoever so I decided to shoot late evening when the clouds were still visible (barely visible is more like it).
Anyway this is what a one minute exposure was like that evening.
If you're following me on Instagram you would have seen my BTS (Behind The Scenes) shot I posted yesterday. I also promised to upload the final version and so here it is.
It was fun doing this. I started off with just the fairy lights and then added the blue lights and finally the fire. I just couldn't stop once I'd started trying new stuff because it was so much fun. I had to stop when my mom smelt the smoke in my room.
Anyway this is a single image with minor adjustments in Lightroom.
I'm not much of a winter person. What I mean is I don't dislike the season per se. It's that it gets really cold and you have to wear so many layers that it kinda inhibits movement and doing stuff normally.
But there is one thing I just absolutely love about winter - the fog! Specifically how the lights look in the fog is just awesome.
Here is a quick picture I too today of the street outside my house. The different colours and then there is the light streak of a passing motorbike.
I've tried getting back to light painting because I haven't done it in a while and I'd forgotten how much fun it was. Of course it requires a lot of patience but it's worth the effort.
This particular picture was part of a "welcome home" banner that I did recently out of light painting.
I wanted to do something unique unlike the previous banners that I'd done and I thought light painting would be a good place to start.
Painting this vase wasn't too difficult but took a lot of time because I really wanted to get all the details so I had to go in and paint each flower separately and then the vase itself. The white streaks you see are actually reflections of the torch I was using. I used a home-made diffuser (ok, it was just a piece of paper).
I haven't done a lot of light painting lately so I decided to get back to doing it.
Once I set about painting with light I realised I was out of practice and what would have taken me 5 seconds earlier took me about 15 seconds. I definitely need more practice.
Anyway I really like this particular chair and I've never done any light painting with it before so I thought I'd give it a shot and see how it turns out.
Just creating the streaks around the chair weren't enough and I had to light up the design on the headrest and the two chair legs as well. I used a home made diffuser for that (a piece of folded paper...doesn't get any simpler than that).
I'd forgotten how much fun light painting actually is :)
Btw if you want to get started here is a light painting tutorial for you to check out. (Just click on "light painting tutorial").
Weather permitting I'm going to try creating some orbs today with some torches (not ideal but it's what I have).
A while back I decided to experiment with photographing smoke. I had just seen some pictures online and I didn't know how to go about it. I didn't have a external flash or some other source of light so I decided to use the built-in flash from an old camera as the "external flash".
I tried various angles and was finally successful in getting in right. I have a few tips for you if you are planning to photograph smoke but before we go into that here is a picture from that shoot.
Remember this is NOT a tutorial. These are a few basic tips. I may work on a tutorial when I am able to purchase an external flash.
1. The external flash should be at a 90 degree angle to your camera.
2. Use a black background.
3. Your shutter speed doesn't really matter when you are using a flash. I use a shutter speed of 5 seconds to capture the above image so if you are looking for proof, this is it.
Ever so often an idea pops into my head that I can't start working on immediately. I realised that if I didn't make a note of these then I would forget them which is why I now have a "Photography Bucket List" of sorts. It is not really a "bucket list" but I like to call it that.
I mentioned this list because yesterday's image is one example of what is on my list. Of course I will not be able to work on all of the things on my list because of time and also lack of equipment but maybe in the future I will finally get round to creating some of those images. Today's image has been on my list for over a year now and I finally tried to make it work two days back.
I tried lighting the book from different angles until I found on that worked. In case you are wondering this is in fact a long exposure shot. If you have read my light painting tutorial you will have noticed that I said that even subtle movements are made more prominent in long exposures. This is one of the cool effects that can be produced because of that property of long exposures.
I know it is not perfect yet but I'll try to perfect this the next time I try it.
I named this "Flypaper" for two reasons. Flypaper actually refers to glue coated paper that is used to catch and kill flies. I got so caught up in creating this image that I didn't keep an eye on my watch and time just flew past. So in a way this was a trap for me.
The second reason is pretty obvious - the paper looks like it is flying.
Well I hope you enjoyed today's picture and as always if you have an comments, feedback, questions...anything please leave a comment.
Here is the long promised light painting tutorial. This is just to get you started so you can let your creativity and imagination run wild.
Before I begin I must warn you that this tutorial is going to be detailed, so it is bound to be long.
If you don’t want to read this feel free to watch the following video which should cover almost everything that this written tutorial covers.
What exactly is light painting?
Here is how Wikipedia describes light painting - “Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. The term light painting also encompasses images lit from outside the frame with hand-held light sources.”
Basically it’s painting with light. You can do this because your camera’s sensor doesn’t work the same way as your eye does. I’m not going to go into the technical side of this because it will bore you and force you to close this post. Your camera captures all light as long as the shutter stays open (which could be for hours).
Light painting is very easy but its super cool.
There are two ways you can paint with light:
1.Creating a design with your light source. You expose the light source i.e. the path travelled by the light source is visible in the final photograph. Some call this light drawing.
You can also use the light source like a paint brush. You paint the scene with the light so the light source is not visible in the final photograph. Some call this light painting.
I first painted the chair with a flashlight (torch) then drew then figure with an LED.
2.Another way you can light paint is by moving the camera. This will give you more abstract results.
I just place some LEDs on a table and then moved the camera to create an abstract result.
If that doesn't make much sense don’t worry because I’ll be going into detail later.
Now as I said before light painting is very easy and simple and you only need minimal equipment.
So, what will you need?
1.Camera
2.Tripod
3.Light Source
4.A camera remote/shutter release cable (optional)
Let’ talk about the camera first. You will need a camera capable of long exposures – a dSLR works best. If you don’t have a dSLR then you need not worry because a “pro-sumer” camera works just as well. I personally use a Canon SX50 HS which is not a dSLR but it’s ok for long exposure although it is not the best. A camera with manual mode (M) works perfectly well. Most dSLRs also have Bulb (B) mode which lets you keep the shutter open as long as you want – this is by far your best option.
The most important aspect you need to have control over is your shutter speed so as long as you can change this in your camera you are fine.
If you have a point-and-shoot then you will probably not be able to paint with light but there is something you can do about that as well. Set your camera to Program (P) mode. Adjust the exposure compensation to +2 (or whatever the highest is on your camera). This should technically give you a shutter speed of about 1” (one second) during which you can paint. This is not ideal but it is the best you can do with your point-and-shoot.
TRIPOD
Now about the tripod. A tripod is essential although it is not an absolute must. You can use any sturdy surface to set up your camera. As long as your camera doesn’t move during the exposure you are good to go. Not all surfaces are perfectly sturdy even though they may seem to be (I’m thinking of a particular scene from The Empire Strikes Back). I would recommend a tripod because it gives you a lot of control.
NOTE - Do not use a tripod if you are going to move you camera to create an abstract results as you might hurt people near you or knock over precious antiques. Take this from a guy with experience.
LIGHT SOURCE
Your light source could be absolutely anything although something is not as bright as the sun. You could use a flash light or torch, an LED, a bunch of LEDs, a candle…anything!
SHUTTER RELEASE/REMOTE
A remote for your camera or a shutter release cable is optional but it helps make your job easier. You would basically need these so that you don’t have to touch your camera at all which in turn would eliminate any shake. If you don’t have these there is another way out – use the camera’s in-built self timer. Set the timer to anything longer than 2” (two seconds). This will help eliminate any camera shake and will greatly reduce motion blur.
DARK ENVIRONMENT
You do not want any stray light coming into the frame which is why a dark environment is suitable. I said this is optional because you could paint out on the street, under the street light and depending on your shutter speed the photograph will not be overexposed. If you are shooting in a place where there is some other light then you have to be very careful so that it doesn’t spoil your shot. A dark room actually works best. It is also where I do most of my light painting. I just turn off all the lights and shut the door and then just go crazy (with light painting obviously).
Ok! So now that you have everything you need you just need to know how. How exactly do you paint with light?
This is the fun part!
Set up your camera on your tripod or on a steady surface. Set it to manual mode or bulb mode (which I think is accessed from manual mode). If you are not using Bulb mode then set your exposure to a relatively long value. This again depends on what you are painting/drawing.
Set your aperture.
NOTE – During light painting the aperture not only controls how much is in focus but also controls the brightness of your light source.
QUICK TIP - Most cameras will have a problem focusing in the dark so there is a very easy way to get around this problem. Place you light source on the ground i.e. in the same plane as your main point of focus or you can hold it at the exact point where you want the camera to focus. I recommend the first option because you can do this yourself and requires less effort. Turn it on. Now using Auto-Focus focus on the light source and lock the focus by switching to Manual Focus (MF).
Set your ISO. The ISO controls the overall brightness of the picture and also the brightness of the light source.
NOTE – Don’t set your ISO too high as you will end up getting a really noisy picture. Long exposures generate a lot of noise as it is.
Set your white balance. This controls the colour of your light source.
NOTE – If you are shooting in RAW then don’t bother about this because you can always change the white balance later in post-processing.
Get your light source ready and turn off the lights if you are indoors.
Now take the picture. Once your press the shutter button you will start the exposure so whatever you do with your light from now on will be registered by the camera till the shutter closes.
Use the light source to paint an object or person. If it is a person you are painting then the person should be as still as possible because the tiniest movements are greatly exaggerated in long exposures. If it is an object then it shouldn't move. This is like painting on a canvas with paint. The light is like the paint.
NOTE – The longer you paint an object the brighter it will be. Do not linger for too long in one place.
With light painting you can get results that would otherwise need an elaborate setup.
Another way of painting is when you move your light source in such a way that the path travelled by the light source is visible in the photograph. These paths are called light streaks. This is just like drawing. You could draw anything with this technique.
Drawing with light streaks.
NOTE – Do not keep the light for too long in one place as it will end up being too bright. This is equivalent to leaving the iron on a perfect nice white shirt for far too long. You end up burning the picture.
An example of "burning" a picture.
Side-note – Keep moving. Don’t stay in one place for too long as you will then show up in the photograph.
If you keep moving you’ll be fine. Dark clothes are recommended but not a necessity.
TIP - If you can't use a long shutter speed so as to be able to complete the entire painting in one exposure don't worry. Divide the painting into multiple part. Use one exposure for one part so that you end up with many exposures, each having a different part of the painting. You can then combine these multiple exposures into one single exposure in a photo editing software (like Photoshop) by simply changing the layer blending mode.
I took about 10 exposures and then used layer blending modes to combine them in Photoshop.
Scroll down for a few tips and check out the examples at the end of the tutorial.
Before I finish I’d like to leave you with a few quick tips.
Tip 1. It takes time to perfect light painting just like anything else. Don’t get frustrated and don’t give up. Keep practicing. Over time you will get faster and better at this.
Tip 2. Be patient. Keep calm.
Tip 3. Keep an eye on your aperture – it has two very important functions. It not only controls the depth of field (DOF) but also the brightness of the light.
Tip 4. Don’t shine the light into the camera for too long from the same spot. This will cause a flare and will ruin your picture.
Tip 5. Keep an eye on your white balance if you are shooting jpegs.
Tip 6. Don’t set your ISO too high. You want to keep it as low as possible.
Tip 7. For inspiration look at the work of other artists.
Tip 8. This is by far the most important tip – HAVE FUN! Enjoy yourself.
I hope this was helpful and you were able to learn a few things.
If you would like to know anything more or if I have missed out anything or haven’t made anything clear then do leave a comment to let me know and I will get back to you.
Anyway have fun!
Oh, Yeah! The examples...how could I forget? :D
You can make everyday objects like a dustbin look cool!
This is the result of my latest light painting endeavour - light painting a chair.
A chair is a pretty common piece of furniture and we use these everyday so I thought it would be nice to look at it in a different way. So I decided to create light trails around it.
It took me around 15 minutes to create one picture. The batteries on my flashlight died out and I nearly broke the bulb. Now the camera I'm using doesn't allow me to use a shutter speed that is slower than 15 seconds and it also doesn't have Bulb mode so I was forced to take multiple pictures and then combine them in later.
Now this is a lot more complicated than it might seem but it is still really really easy. I'm working on a proper tutorial and will hopefully have it up soon. I do have a light painting tutorial up on Youtube which is like an introduction to light painting. There are couple of other light painting tutorials that you could check out. I'm embedding the Light Painting Tutorial below for you to watch and learn.
Here is one of my first attempts. This is also a different angle.
Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.
In case you are wondering, the flashlight is in proper working condition and I will try to perfect this :D
