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11/01/2005 10:51:45 AM · #1 |
Hey all...
I have various outtakes and had to make a decision between balancing the pumpkin and the "glow".
I notice that I was not the only one facing this hurdle. Many images are solid black except for the glow of the light. You see no "pumpkin"...
Where as others show the pumpkin but the cut-aways have some strong "glow blurr".
I am curious, this shadowed lighting type scenario is one of the hardest to shoot whether pumpkin or not. As a relatively new "photographer" I find these to take an immense amount of time only to return a "not-quite-happy" result. I want to capture the same thing I see in real life but seem unable to do so...
How does one shoot such an object as a jack-o-lantern which is "emitting" light...but capture the entire object? |
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11/01/2005 10:58:23 AM · #2 |
| There are many approaches. You can use an external light source with a dimmer, put a REALLY bright light inside the pumpkin, or do a long exposure and turn on the lights for part of the shot. |
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11/01/2005 11:07:06 AM · #3 |
i photographed my pumpkin with a black background and one candle inside. i used a single light source about 6 ft away coming from the left side to show some detail on the outside of the pumpkin.
Message edited by author 2005-11-01 11:07:25.
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11/01/2005 11:10:58 AM · #4 |
| I photographed in a dark room with a black background (my laundry room). I cracked the door just enough to get some fill light. One candle was tops inside. It took about 50 shots to work it right. |
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11/01/2005 11:19:28 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
I cracked the door just enough to get some fill light. |
I did the exact same thing, but decided not to enter (a wise choice). |
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11/01/2005 11:21:19 AM · #6 |
wow i'm impressed, my light source was through my cracked bedroom door :) i'm starting to photograph like some of the pro's! and my score is at 6.0, thats good for me.
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
I cracked the door just enough to get some fill light. |
I did the exact same thing, but decided not to enter (a wise choice). |
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11/01/2005 11:26:14 AM · #7 |
mine was outside ( so very dark ) and partially painted with a maglight. one candle inside. another lighted pumpkin behind the photographed one for slight backlight.
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11/01/2005 11:27:22 AM · #8 |
I had a flashlight with a white towel over it for a fill light.
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11/01/2005 11:30:00 AM · #9 |
It̢۪s a simple matter of controlling the light that enters your lens, as well as the various settings of the camera and lens. Depending on the scene, the lighting used, and the camera equipment, there can be a lot of variables to control. Adjust everything correctly, and viola, you get the photo you wanted.
Or, as many ribbon winners can tell you, you can make it look like you did all that with post shot editing. :)
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11/01/2005 11:53:15 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by micknewton:
It̢۪s a simple matter of controlling the light that enters your lens... |
Mick,
I had to quote you (even if a little bit out of context you won't mind I'm sure) because you brought smile on my face with this statement.
You just summarized the art of photography in a couple of words... just control the light that enters the lens.
Simple? Many non-ribbon winners (or ribbon non-winners) would disagree with you on that.
Cheers!
-Serge |
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11/01/2005 12:04:06 PM · #11 |
Mine used three light sources PLUS the internal candles. The candles, of course (2 of them) were left to burn. The camera was set at ISO 100 and stopped down quite a ways, to force a long exposure on the candlelight value. Then I controlled the length of time the other three lights were on. For 80% of the exposure, only the candles were "on". Light 1 was on for 20%, Light 2 for 10%, and light 3 for just a flick of the switch on-and-off.
The amazing thing is I got it right on the second try; only shot two frames on this one :-)
Robt.
Edit to add: we used to do this kind of thing all the time when shooting architectural interiors, so I'm used to balancing lights this way...
Message edited by author 2005-11-01 12:05:24.
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11/01/2005 12:14:56 PM · #12 |
me too ;} and shot it just after the transparency shot - which also only took a couple exposures to get what i wanted - serendipity maybe. plus both edited under basic rules. i am always proud when that's all a photo needs.
Originally posted by bear_music:
The amazing thing is I got it right on the second try; only shot two frames on this one :-)
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Message edited by author 2005-11-01 12:16:59.
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11/01/2005 01:38:18 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by srdanz:
I had to quote you (even if a little bit out of context you won't mind I'm sure) because you brought smile on my face with this statement.
You just summarized the art of photography in a couple of words... just control the light that enters the lens.
Simple? Many non-ribbon winners (or ribbon non-winners) would disagree with you on that. |
I̢۪m glad I was able to make you smile Serge. :)
But, it really is quite simple. It̢۪s all about controlling the light that hits the sensor, and what the camera (software) is going to do with it once it does. Please, take note that I did not say it was easy. It can be easy, but it can also be darn near impossible at times.
I realize that theSaj wanted more specific information about photographing a lit pumpkin, but without knowing all of the parameters he had to work with, and his desired result, it̢۪s kind of hard to give specific advice. Others had already given him a general idea of what he needed to do. I was just attempting to help him work it out on his own. Sometimes all we need to do is ask ourselves the right question; maybe think about the problem from a slightly different angle, and the answer presents itself.
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11/01/2005 01:49:13 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by micknewton:
Originally posted by srdanz:
I had to quote you (even if a little bit out of context you won't mind I'm sure) because you brought smile on my face with this statement.
You just summarized the art of photography in a couple of words... just control the light that enters the lens.
Simple? Many non-ribbon winners (or ribbon non-winners) would disagree with you on that. |
I̢۪m glad I was able to make you smile Serge. :)
But, it really is quite simple. It̢۪s all about controlling the light that hits the sensor, and what the camera (software) is going to do with it once it does. Please, take note that I did not say it was easy. It can be easy, but it can also be darn near impossible at times.
I realize that theSaj wanted more specific information about photographing a lit pumpkin, but without knowing all of the parameters he had to work with, and his desired result, it̢۪s kind of hard to give specific advice. Others had already given him a general idea of what he needed to do. I was just attempting to help him work it out on his own. Sometimes all we need to do is ask ourselves the right question; maybe think about the problem from a slightly different angle, and the answer presents itself. |
Right; and in this case the basic question/problem is to ask "What do I want to be the ratio of ambient light to candlelight in this image?" and "How can I attain this ratio?" The solution is in brightening/dimming the ambient lighting OR moving the setup closer to/further from the ambient lighting, OR moving the ambient lighting closer to/further from the setup, OR turning the ambient lighting on/off for a selected portion of the exposure. That pretty well covers the conventional approaches, if you consider adding a scrim between light and subject to be "dimming" the light.
R.
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11/01/2005 02:02:02 PM · #15 |
I took mine a few hours before the challenge... Edited it and submitted it at 11:45. I used the Night setting on my camera, slower shutter speed. Votive candle inside the pumpkin, no external light, pumpkin sitting in the dark outside. I like the glow. I tried it the other way but it was just too boring and I just didnt have anywhere that would have made a suitable background. My shot isnt doing that great, but I made an awesome wallpaper with it and a photo of my fat cat sitting inside the candy bucket by the door hehe :)
Message edited by scalvert - Removed specific reference to entry. |
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11/01/2005 03:10:57 PM · #16 |
I missed the challenge..after carving several pumpkins yesterday. got tied up with this that and tick or treat. I still want to take the shot...since work tonight was called off I have some time to play. I was gonna do an outside shot, but have my flash stuff up in the studio...I figure to use flash and time to get the effect i want.
This shot i love the look of, but the composition is poor. the lighting is a mix of sunset and a yard light. (aka LUCK)
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11/01/2005 11:39:05 PM · #17 |
I guess I should clarify:
I tried using secondary lighting, flash, flashlight, etc.
Anyways, I guess I am more curious about the technical. Is it better to go with a wide or narrow aperture? Low ISO or higher ISO? Etc?
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11/02/2005 12:37:22 AM · #18 |
Originally posted by theSaj:
I guess I should clarify:
I tried using secondary lighting, flash, flashlight, etc.
Anyways, I guess I am more curious about the technical. Is it better to go with a wide or narrow aperture? Low ISO or higher ISO? Etc? |
I set the camera in AV mode then adjust the aperture and the iso to get the amount of time i need to get the shot. My photo was a 10 sec exposure, one candle inside and two outside for fill light. Using candles for the fill light worked good for exposing for the pumpkin and the light inside.
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11/02/2005 12:45:09 AM · #19 |
I shot outside so I lit the candle and dragged my light source ( a worklight bouncing off the canopy we carved our pumpkins under ) closer and further from the pumpkin, the poor man's dimmer switch. when it was about twenty feet away it seemed to have the right balance of light from within and without.
Shot wide open and 100 asa to blur out the backround. |
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