I saw it in a magazine and didn't think about it until I took this picture:

and decided to do a long exposure gallery. So, I looked up light painting on flickr...

All you really need is a tripod, remote shutter (optional but helpful), flashlight, and dark area. Set your camera to like 30s and I prefer to underexpose by a little bit, but I don't remember my reason. I think the light may have flared into the lens too much or been too washed out or something. Fire the camera and start painting. It's a huge pain in the ass to draw these things like 20 times when you wait 15-30s for the camera and then another 15 seconds for the camera to process the file so you can see it, so I've ended up giving up on a few ideas (like the tom cruise thing) with end products i'm not really happy about. Anyway, check what's going on in the painting and try it again, i guess.

Tips:
-consistent movement/speed/direction it's pointed with the light...
-in bright areas of the photo, movements need to be slower or you have to go over it multiple times. Like look how washed out my light is in the construction photo.
-don't get in the way of stuff you will paint or have painted (it fades out the drawing a noticeable amount.. so with my name on stairs, i stood directly behind each letter i painted instead of one the sides where i would cover up the next letter)
-set yourself guidelines. with my name on stairs, I moved pieces of trash/leaves to where I needed to start the letters. With the worker, I loosely tried to use my height/torso length/etc so that I knew where to draw the legs and arms and whatnot.
-don't stand still in one spot too long (see tom cruise one for my ghosts)
-major thing is trial and error, keep checking the lcd after every photo and try to redo all the parts that can be improved and keep what's good.
-Manual focus the lens since it's too dark for AF

I'm not super happy about these attempts since I see a lot that can be improved on and maybe someone can try it out and teach me something! Check out flickr, people attach led's to bike tires and strings and all kinds of stuff to get great shapes

Nice post, I'll give it a go.

I know nothing about taking photos but heres some old point and shoots I took. I wish quality was better.

Barcelona



Sicily





Austria

just got Kenko extension tube set ($180 for 12mm, 20mm, 38mm)

first subject with 50mm lens and all three tubes attached:


there were some major issues with the thing coming back to life after being frozen and me frantically trying to catch it and it ended up getting a little dirty after i killed it (again)

That Bee has some nutso sharpness.

I'm a sucker for nighttime city shots. I'm not very good so if you see anything I could work on please let me know.

can anyone tell me if this is a good entry level deal for a total noob?
tx

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

ss87, those are amazing.

#3 = wallpaper

TMK that's more of a beginner/intermediate camera than an entry-level.

Something like the Nikon D40x, or D40 is an entry level. (I use a Nikon D50, which is also an entry-level by my standards, just an older model).

I got my D50 for $275 with kit lens included, and TMK the D40s should go for about that on the used market.

I don't plan on upgrading for a while as there is still a TON I have to learn about composition, lighting, and all of the fundamentals of lens usage. No need to spend $1000 on a camera that can do more than you can understand at this point.

IMO buy a cheaper entry level model, and by the time you are ready to move up to the next class of camera, they'll probably be cheaper/better than the ones available right now :-\

Try Craigslist out, tons of good deals. Also give Amazon a shot. If you're familiar with what kind of lens you'd like to use, perhaps buy the Camera BODY ONLY, and then purchase the specific lens' you'd like separately. If you're truly a total beginner, just get the kit lens included and it'll be good for learning.

PartysOver - Look up photographer Dave Black for more information and examples on light painting

That is a good deal, I would say its a great setup for a beginner since that camera also offers HD video ability its a camera and lens you will own for a while and be set with good equipment. If you want a good quality camera with the same features except without the video I would suggest waiting 1 month for the new Nikon D3000, its designed to be a camera for beginners and entry SLR customers and it will start at $599 w/ an 18-55 lens.

I've seen work like this. I don't have any eye for doing that kind of light painting yet but his pictures are incredible.

Right now I've built a studio for macro work. I'm (slowly) adding/building more things for portraits and in the mean time, I've been practicing product shots. I'd like to get a portfolio of jewelry/pottery/electronics/clothing as we have an absurd amount of craft vendors within 20 miles who almost all have horrible point and shoot pictures on their websites. I wouldn't mind transitioning into doing some work for them over winter...

The next thing I need to build: http://alexcampagna.blogspot.com/200...ht-strobe.html ... I will likely make two of them with a softbox I designed made out of 1/2" PVC:



It uses regular PVC lengths with 90, 45, 22.5 elbows, tees, and a cross

This one's face is 3' sq. I may make it octagonal instead. The DIY spiderlight obviously attaches to the back where the cube is & would likely be attached with zip ties. Then I would use no-rip nylon wrapped around, covered with black duck fabric.. with more no-rip as a diffuser. To get it on a lightstand, I think I can epoxy a 1/4"-20 screw in the bottom arm. I could also clamp it on the back area. I'll play that part by ear.

your really going to build a light? sounds a little crazy -- try to find 2 used sb800's (fine for your use, sb900 more$) and use them wirelessly + 2 soft boxes

I have flashes but they are 20+ years old and they work ok, but not great. I prefer the continuous lighting from what I've done so far, though. I have a handful of work lamps that I cover with the nylon and it lets me see the effects of moving the lights right away. But, they aren't really strong enough even with the biggest CFL I can get. (I don't want to use regular flood lights because my apt is already ridiculously hot and I don't have AC).

I would like to upgrade flashes to a sb-800 and two sb-600's though. adorama has them cheap from nikon refurb, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet

hi, I'm enjoying this thread, great pictures, I even saved some to my computer cause they are amazing, but I would like to make a request: does any of you have a nice picture of the inside of a casino, so the casino floor...google doesn't deliver -.- and I would rly like a nice picture of a setting like this, thanks in advance

I've been trying to pull some light-drawing photos off and it's a whole new experience. There's so much you could do with this it's crazy. Anyone got any tips or advice for this?

Here's what i posted for the LED actual drawings. I can't help much for the flashlight painting (to draw the light source instead of a subject) http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=951

Just picked up a Leica D-Lux 4.

Pretty pumped to go out and shoot w/ it

Here are three photos from a recent trip to Iceland:


1. Skogafoss
2. Djupavik
3. Djupavik







While in the northwest fjords of Iceland, we visited and spent the night at the abandoned herring factory in Djupavik, Iceland, I climbed into one of the old tanks used to store the fish oil before export. They were huge, awesome, full of reverb and echoes. To get there, we drove for three hours on dirt roads, through fjords and fog, rain, sun, everything. We'd go for an hour without seeing another sign of life.

One in every 500 inhabitants in Iceland is a ghost, according to Vae Hartal, the spiritual Who's Who of Iceland by folklore historian Arni Björnsson, making a substantial - or perhaps insubstantial - addition to its quarter of a million population. This high ghost quotient is not unexpected, as Iceland is the perfect home for any spook, with long periods of darkness in winter and an abundance of grotesque rock and lava formations providing perfect camouflage for monsters and ogres.

Flesh and blood Icelanders, it seems, enjoy excellent relations with their neighbours from the other world. In a survey on the supernatural in Western Europe, Icelanders topped the league for ghostly experiences, with 41 percent of the population claiming contact with the dead, compared to the European average of 20 percent.

Traditionally, however, ghosts were not harmless visitations from the dear departed. They usually took on the form of an afturganga, a dead man turned zombie, and were capable of killing people(or worse) taking them to hell. Only the spirtual powers of a priest or the physical prowess of a strongman could could exorcise such a nightmarish spook.

You can see the tank that we were in on the left hand side of the third photo in this post. The large conrete drum-esque thing.

that last pic is sick

I was ready to comment on how cool the first two were before i saw that one...first two are mundane in comparison to the killer whites that building shoots against the blacks of the mountain

The bird is just an extra bit of sweet.

holy ****! there is a ****ing bird in that picture! How did I not see that?

that really looks like it could be an album cover. can't stop coming back to this thread to look at it.

went out for some shooting with the new Nikon D300s at one of my fave spots in the area, the National Zoo

I have no artistic ability whatsoever, but I just bought a nice telescope and plan on making a fool of myself attempting some astrophotography. I'll try to remember to post in this thread if and when I have any success.

I just purchased a Nikon D700 yesterday without a lens....

I really want to buy the 17-35F2.8, 70-200F2.8, and 50mmFf1.4 but have no more monies

I currently have a sony alpha 200 and usually shoot with my 50mm1.4.....but have grown out of it already...