[ITSt]

Hi Folks,

How was the picture on this month's calendar page taken ?

Well, as I took it I can tell you ..... and it was not done in Photoshop or any other graphics package, the only aid I had on the night was a bottle of an extremely fine red wine, a Castillo San Lorenza Rioja Reserva 1999 if I recall

Many years ago, when rolls of film were the only way to take a picture, I used to do some of this stuff ..... time lapse photography .....

It was always hit or miss, as you never knew what the picture would come out like until you had developed it, and yes, I used to do that myself as well. For the picture above I took a whole roll of 24 pictures with only one (the one above) coming out just right.

Time moves on and digital cameras with preview screens are now the norm, so last August, having drunk a few glasses of red wine, for some strange reason that I can't recall I was outside with a torch, and my digital SLR.

My wife and son thought I was stupid running around with a torch in the semi-darkness, but it was all worth it in the end.

Here are the first attempts ..... ranging from a 10 second exposure to a 30 second exposure, and yes, I am running around with the torch. The wine did help as by this time almost the whole bottle had gone :chuckle:

It was about now that I thought I was on to something .....

I then realised that the moon had come out and changed the position of the camera .....

I then moved the picnic table at the back (by this time my wife and son had thought that I really had lost it), and made sure that the torch was pointing downwards all the way around. If I recall I managed to get in 4 runs round the car and hid behind it until the shutter closed.

And this was the last attempt and the one that is on the calendar, taken at ISO200, F4 and 30 seconds, focal length of 34mm (35mm equiv). The only Photoshop was to remove the registration. :clap:

 

[Jags]

Very nice picture! I need to get a decent camera so I can play around with stuff like this. One question, if you were running around like a mentalist with the torch then how come the camera didnt capture you as well?

 

[Alan]

Cool pic :clap:

 

[Daz]

Love it ! Might give that a try

 

[hodgie]

Great pictures. I like this one though, looks like its from Back to the future.

 

[LiamGTR]

But how isn't your silhouette in th picture if the light is I don't understand ?

 

[matt j]

One question, if you were running around like a mentalist with the torch then how come the camera didnt capture you as well?

Ditto, awesome pics Ian but how come the camera didn't capture you as well mate?
Need to start paying around with the camera more myself

 

[Wildrover]

Fantastic effect!

 

[ITSt]

Why was I not in the picture ? ..... the same reason that the cars are not in the first picture of the Forth Road Bridge ..... the cars, and myself, were not standing still long enough to be exposed in the photograph.

As a result of the long exposure I and the cars have been effectively "out exposed" by the rest of the surroundings.

If I was wearing a high vis vest then, yes, you would have seen a blurred ghostly image of myself running around the car, but I was not lit up and was not wearing anything that would have reflected any light, apart from the torch which was pointed downwards as I ran around the car.

If I had stopped in front of the car you would have seen a "see through" image of myself and I'd be selling the photogragph to the Sun as proof of the existance of ghosts

 

[Min-e]

The last attempt is superb, well done. Good exposure too :thumbsup:

It’s nice to see someone else doing a bit of time lapse, and night photography. I love taking pictures at night. I started back in the 35mm era with shutter release cables taking long exposures. Things are a lot easier in the digital era though I must admit.

 

[ITSt]

The last attempt is superb, well done. Good exposure too :thumbsup:

It’s nice to see someone else doing a bit of time lapse, and night photography. I love taking pictures at night. I started back in the 35mm era with shutter release cables taking long exposures. Things are a lot easier in the digital era though I must admit.

Yep, a lot easier as you can make exposure adjustments in real time and then check the outcome with the camera's preview screen. In the days of my first pic above of the bridge (1980 if I recall) I used to go through rolls of film to get one or two decent pictures. You really did not know how things would work out until you got into the darkroom.

 

[ITSt]

Here are a few more from the 1980's. All taken with a Pentax MX 35mm SLR using Kodak 400 ASA film. (The negatives were scanned in to the PC) all were taken at night, although you would not think it with the second one, on long exposures.

This one is a bit of history now, the building is now a mound of bricks, it was demolished a few years back.

And one from my days of letting of huge fireworks

 

[furrywoolyhatuk]

Some great pics, I used to study photography many years ago but have lost touch with it, but this christmas I have a digi slr on the way, looking forward to putting it to good use!

P.S I like the way you use the wine as a get our claus!

 

[Robbie 733]

Yeah right .... tell us the truth, you've fitted Neons !

 

[Daryl TunerLab]

Very cool idea, nice shots!

 

[dean j]

That last photo (the one of your car) is amazing!

I'm gonna drive up to you so you can take one of mine (it'll cost some money in petrol though, as i'm in essex!).

Good work mate. Spot on!:thumbsup:

 

[Min-e]

I love this image:

I'll have to try and dig out a load of my 35mm night shots. I must admit my shots these days are much improved with thanks to more experience gained over the years!

 

[Cliff J]

Not only do I love those shots, but I also love the dedication to get it perfect, fantastic stuff

 

[ITSt]

Thanks for the kind words folks :thumbsup:

Next year I may have some time on my hands (redundancy beckons ) and had a thought about scanning in all my 35mm negatives, then I did a rough count ...... and lost count at over 7000 with a box still to open :nervous:

I have over 4500 digital "photos" already stored, and that is only from 2005, I started the 35mm stuff way back in 1979

 

[ru']

Yeah right .... tell us the truth, you've fitted Neons !

:chuckle: