Night Photography & Light Painting Tips

Night Photography & Light Painting Tips
Interesting Photo of the Day: Friendly Penguin Chats with Antarctic Tourists
What it Looks Like to Leave Earth: Timelapse Photography
How a Professional Photographer Packs & Organizes His Gear for Any Situation

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 04:54 PM PDT

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Night photography is not really as difficult as a lot of people think. However, there are important tools needed to finish the job correctly. Here is a list of compulsory gear, as well as optional items, that you must have for night photography.

“Surfers at Night” captured by Derek Byrne (Click image to see more from Byrne)

Must-Haves:

DSLR or any kind of camera with manual settings, including the “Bulb” setting
Camera capable of shooting RAW format images; not necessary but highly recommended
Sturdy tripod not tormented by wind whenever possible
Remote trigger or electric cable release with a timer
Additional camera batteries, as extended exposures can empty batteries fast; you could exhaust two or more in a night
Lens hood or shade for the lens

Good to Have

These items are generally good to have for night photography. They’re not really essential, but they are undoubtedly useful.

Digital watch/timer
Penlight or a small flashlight to check your settings or you quickly locate items you need
Great flashlight for light painting

“Light Painting the Pond 1″ captured by Jeremy Jackson (Click image to see more from Jackson)

Lightweight flash or a speed light
Protection for the camera bag and your camera from unexpected climate situations like heavy rains; weather can change fast at night. However, if you’re prepared, you can acquire excellent shots even during extreme weather conditions.
A friend to help you, particularly if you are in an urban location; it’s truly important to have someone guard your gear or to help pass the time.

Finding a fantastic object is very essential in night photography.

“Horse & Rider Waiting in the Spotllight” captured by Jaap Coorens (Click image to see more from Coorens)

Night photography can result in beautiful images. Yet, it is usually a difficult task to find a fantastic location in the dark. Thus, it’s nice if you can go out in advance and try finding a great location. Heading out before dark will provide you with ample time to find a spot, arrange your equipment, and get the shot ready. To assist you in finding a great subject, consider these guidelines:

Old structures like barns and abandoned automobiles in fields make good subjects. They’re best for painting with light. But it’s important to keep in mind that if you need to cross someone else’s property to get to your subject, you must get authorization. Trespassing is not a good idea, and it can lead to a lot of problems.
If you wish to shoot star trails, photograph the moon, or perform light painting, you need to escape the city. You should drive quite a while to get far enough so the city lights won’t affect your shot. Since you will be exposing for a few minutes or perhaps longer, the lights in the city may be visible on the horizon if you are not far enough away.
Get started with a smaller item that you can light in one exposure, then you can definitely work your way up to larger subjects, like an old barn or an old fire truck. Yet another excellent object to begin with is an old bicycle. You can obtain this in a junkyard if you don’t have one.

“Old Barn” captured by Beebo Wallace (Click image to see more from Wallace)

About the Author:
This article was written by Courtney McBride on behalf of (martinhunsaker.com). Light photography or night photography is becoming popular these days, best of luck with your images.

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Interesting Photo of the Day: Friendly Penguin Chats with Antarctic Tourists

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 02:53 PM PDT

“In Antarctica, it pays to get directions from the locals…” reads the caption posted with this fun photo. And it really does look like the fluffy young penguin is having a nice chat with two tourists.

Penguin and tourists in Antarctica (via imgur; click for larger image)

Strangely enough, the penguins don’t seem to be afraid of humans at all, which offered a prime opportunity for some unique wildlife photography.

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

What it Looks Like to Leave Earth: Timelapse Photography

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 12:34 PM PDT

Many space and photography enthusiasts have taken images from the International Space Station files to create some rather stunning timelapse videos of earth and space, but the video we see below, created with images from the Messenger spacecraft, give viewers a unique view of planet earth. As Messenger left the atmosphere on its way to Mercury, its Dual Imaging system captured hundreds of photos of earth, many of which we see in this sequence (for those of you reading this by email, the timelapse video can be seen here):

On it’s journey to space, Messenger started snapping images of earth as it traveled spaceward over South America at 40,761 miles above our planet. Messenger continued to photograph earth for the next 24 hours, an entire rotation of earth, as the spacecraft traveled distances exceeding 270,000 miles from earth.

Earth from approximately 40,000 miles from earth.

Earth from approximately 45,000 miles from earth.

The timelapse used a total of 358 still images, all taken with the Messenger’s Mercury Dual Imaging System (Via Petapixel), or known as MDIS. After sequencing the image files together, we were left with a moving, birds eye view of earth’s rotation.

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

How a Professional Photographer Packs & Organizes His Gear for Any Situation

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 11:08 AM PDT

Have you ever seen a photographer in the airport and wondered, “What equipment does he have with him, and how much did he bring?” Traveling to a shoot can be tricky because you can only bring a limited amount of gear. So when that limit is put on you, how much do you bring, what do you bring, and how do you pack it all? In this video, photographer Andrew Link shows you the gear he travels with and how he keeps it safe, compact, and organized (for those of you reading this by email, the video can be seen here):

Factors to Consider When Looking to Buy A Photo Bag:

Hard or Soft Case – Hard cases obviously have better protection. Link says he swears by them (he uses the Pelican 1510). He has even dropped his down a staircase without any damage. However, hard cases are not easily accessible and their bulk can make them difficult to carry around. Soft packs often provide a more comfortable way of carrying them and allow you quicker access to your gear.

Security – Do you need a bag with a lock on it? Are you afraid your gear could possibly be stolen? There are two forms of security when it comes to photo bags. The security of wearing your bag and the security of being able to open it. Your case may be impossible to open without the right key, but if you’re not standing near it, theft is a potential problem. On the other hand, a thief won’t be able to steal a backpack very easily, but he may be able to zip open the back pocket and help himself.

Size – This is a big factor and one that may result in you buying multiple camera bags for different occasions. If you’re just going for a walk through the park, a bag for a single camera and lens may be all you need. But if you’ve got multiple cameras, lenses, and lights to carry around, you may want to invest in some bigger cases.

Accessibility – Will you be transporting your gear to a studio to set up or will you be carrying your gear through the woods and need constant access to it? Many bags are designed for you to be able to quickly retrieve and store your gear while other are designed mainly for safe transport.

Comfort – If you’re going to be carrying your equipment all day, you’ll want a nice padded backpack or other soft bag. Bulky duffel bags and hard cases are not suited to be carried long distances.