Second Place: Lightening Boots by Canon DSLR Challenge

Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Canon SLR Challenges - FAQ >> CSLR - Best of... >> Best of 2005 > Second Place: Lightening Boots

previous | next


May 10 2005	CameraShy09

Second Place: Lightening Boots

No points for creativity here. I've tried to recreate an image from Lee Frost's book "Night and Low-Light Photography." I outlined the boots with a penlight, then used Image Stacker to combine the three 30-second exposures (90 seconds total exposure). (The EXIF info didn't survive the stacking process.)
A great way to try two new techniques on one photo.

Canon EOS 20D ,Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD IF
Manual exposure. 90 sec f16 ISO 100 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time
Make
Model
Flash Used	No
Focal Length
Exposure Time
Aperture
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Mode
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto

previous | next

Please do not delete, update, or otherwise edit others' entries
* Submitter retains all copyrights *

Canon DSLR Challenge		16-May-2005 16:25
I keep coming back to this shot. Best of the bunch for me. Great technique CameraShy. Must have a go at this myself someday. Teapot.

cindyd		16-May-2005 15:27
Love it. Cindy

CameraShy09		12-May-2005 13:56
The wires attached to the two prongs of the light bulb were wrapped in electrical tape to keep them from shorting out, then taped to the positive and negative poles of the AA battery. The taped wires provide sufficient support to the bulb to move it around like a wand. The whole contraption is only about five inches long. I held it with my hand clearly visible to the camera and even walked between the camera and the boots during the exposure. I think the fact that I was moving relatively quickly kept my hand from appearing in the photo.

Canon DSLR Challenge		12-May-2005 12:12
Interesting effect. So...did you move the light by hand, or was it taped to a stick, or what? -Ed Hahn

CameraShy09		11-May-2005 13:00
The light used was a bare flashlight bulb (purchased from Wal-Mart sporting goods dept). One wire was twisted around each of the two bulb contacts and taped to either the positive or negative pole of a "AA" battery with electrician tape. (My husband did this. I'm not even sure if I've explained it correctly.) The bare bulb had to be visible to the camera for the neon effect to work. I took three shots of 30 seconds each. I outlined the left boot on one exposure, the right boot on the next and tried to cover what I thought I missed with the third. All three images were stacked using the Image Stacking software. Frost did his shot in one take of 40 seconds, but I don't have access to a cable release and had to rely on the longest exposure I could get "out of the box." It was great fun trying this.

Canon DSLR Challenge		11-May-2005 03:15
this is really interesting. looks like there is another book i need to add to my list.

Guest		11-May-2005 02:39
Excellent effect! Sorry for my ignorance... what kind of penlight? Do you mean laser pointers?

Shu		11-May-2005 02:23
Nice! I love it! Shu

Guest		11-May-2005 02:22
That looks hard to do. How many takes did you do?

Canon DSLR Challenge		11-May-2005 01:49
I actually used a tiny flashlight bulb wired directly to a AA battery. (I have a handyman husband.) I tried it first with a LED flashlight and got a very nice light painting, but not the neon outlining effect I was after. Thanks for your comment. - CameraShy09

Guest		11-May-2005 01:40
I have that same book! I like your shot here. Nice outlining! What kind of penlight did you use?