p.1 #1 · How do you get propper lighting with long exposures?
I was trying to get a picture of my kid's pumpkins in a very low light setting to get the effect of the candles inside the pumpkins making them glow.
I also wanted my kids in the picture, but the flash would drown out the glowing pumpkin effect.
I'm talking about 5-10 second exposures to get nice vibrant lit up pumpkins.
I assume I would need a static light source to constantly be on to acheive both the pumpkins and kids in the same photo? Flashes will not do I'd imagine since the exposures are so long. The challenge would be getting the kids to sit still for 5-10 seconds. hahaha
p.1 #4 · How do you get propper lighting with long exposures?
You can use a long shutter to capture the glow, and flash to light the subject; this is called "dragging the shutter," and you can search the Web for posts on how to meter it. The specifics would depend on what brand and model of camera and flash you have.
For best results you need to mount the camera on a tripod so there's no camera movement during the long exposure. A little subject movement wouldn't hurt much, and in fact I've done some very long exposures where the subjects actually got up and walked out of frame while the dim lights (Christmas tree lights in my case) were still recording.
p.1 #6 · How do you get propper lighting with long exposures?
01Ryan10 wrote:
@ BrianO...thanks, i'll look into that.
You're welcome.
01Ryan10 wrote:
...The challenge would be getting the kids to sit still for 5-10 seconds.
That's often true of some adults as well.
My advice would be to make test shots of just the pumpkin before the kids arrive. With the camera on a tripod make a number of shots at different shutter speeds until you get one where the intensity of the glow is what you want. Ignore the surface lighting, background, etc.; you're only concerned with the glowing areas.
Then, at the time of the shoot, use the same shutter speed and aperture, and let the flash light up the scene; TTL-metered flash would work, or you could use manual flash if you're comfortable with it for more-controlled results. I use a flash meter in these situations, but you probably don't have one. Test shots again could be used to determine the best flash output.
Good luck, and I'd love to see your results if you care to post them.
