Questions And Answers
Questions and Answers
Lights for illuminating Nightscapes
People have asked me a number of questions about equipment, issues, and technique in Nightscape or Landscape Astrophotography. Since many of these questions are recurring, I am going to post the questions and answers here. I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability!
Q: I noticed that in many of your Milky Way shots you include a nicely lit, probably light-painted (in a subtle way) foreground. What flashlight(s) or illumination do you use for your light painting? The way a lot of your scenes look is completely natural so either you're using moonlight (doubtful), composites (maybe) or light painting using a really good technique. So I would love to know how you achieve those great foregrounds.
A: Yes, I use a form of static light painting for most of my photos. I use dimmable LED video lights with warming filters and diffusion filters. The lights are too blue without the filters, but the ones I use all came with warming filters. The ones I use most are F&V Z96 (96 LEDs) dimmable Video LEDs that I purchased on Amazon for around $80 USD. There Is also A Neewer 160 that is even brighter for about $30, but sometimes too bright. I just discovered the Newer 60 LED, and the Neewer 32 LED lights for around $20, and I am hoping these will be good for small spaces like inside arches. I just bought them. I usually place a F&V Z 96 on a miniature tripod about 40-50 meters away if possible, to the side, and at around 45 degrees to the object of interest. This helps to create shadows and depth. If you have the light too near you then the photo looks flat. It needs to be at an angle to the scene. I place the same LED lights in arches or behind rocks, etc., and if they are too bright, then I place a lens cloth (black or white), or napkin, or handkerchief over the front to damp the light. In tight spaces I will sometimes use a hand held light or torch. The hand held halogen lights, lithium or xenon have the right color of light. Black and Decker and Stanley make rechargeable versions and are available at Home Depot, etc, for $20-30. I never shine them directly on the object of interest. I find a rock or even the ground and shine the light on something off to the side at around 45 degrees, and the reflected light will look more natural and even.
More Posts from Wayne-pinkston and Others
Balanced Rock by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Balanced Rock in Arches National Park, Utah. There is a light panel creating some illumination on the foreground, and Balanced Rock itself is also partially lit by reflected light from a hand held halogen spotlight. This was shot with a Nikon 810A camera and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at f 2.8, 30 sec, 14 mm, and ISO 6400. This night I was shooting with Eric Gail, an excellent photographer and now friend I met here on Flickr. Check out his wonderful gallery here: www.flickr.com/photos/dot21studios/ Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
Portal by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook This is massive Natural Bridge or Arch. Low Level Lighting (LLL) used to illuminate the scene. There are 2 Goal Zero Micro Lanterns hidden under the arch to illuminate the undersurface. There is a Cineroid LED light panel on a light stand to my left to illuminate the foreground, and 2 more small lights illuminating the far ridge. With a structure this massive it can be a bit of work to get the lighting even. Lots of repositioning and reshooting. This is a vertical panorama with the images taken horizontally and the series of images sweeping upwards. 14-24 mm lens, 14 mm, f/2.8, 20 sec., ISO 6400.
Lighting
People have asked me a number of questions about equipment, issues, and technique in Nightscape or Landscape Astrophotography. Since many of these questions are recurring, I am going to post the questions and answers here. I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability!
Question: I took a chance visit to Joshua Tree this past weekend and took shots until I heard coyotes calling and got scared. My question for you is what wide aspect illumination do you use to get general cover during night shots? I've been using flashlights and as you'll see from the below photo the coverage is not uniform. I got some great results with light from the side (not posted on flickr) but I need something wide angle and low key.Fyi I used to work in theatre lighting so I'm pretty good with types of lighting, I just don't know the best options for close-to-dark photography lighting.
Answer: For small to moderately large areas I used reflected light. I have had no luck with shining a light directly on areas of interest. I use a halogen hand held spotlight, and try to find something off to the side to bounce it off, like another hoodoo or ridge. If you can find something about 45 degrees off to the side you can get some nice shadows, and a feeling of depth. This is what I used mostly in Bisti. You need only 6-10 seconds of light in a 30 sec exposure. Bouncing the light makes it much more even. The halogen lights (not LED) give a nice warm color. This is the one I use:
www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Cordless-Spotlight-Integrated-Cigarette/dp/B00HES8JI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436649113&sr=8-1&keywords=luminar+worktm
The charge lasts about 15 min total, but if you use it 10 sec at a time that is up to 90 exposures. I do take test shots and get everything set up before I use it. There is a small learning curve. Sometimes I just bounce it off the ground. I use a "snoot" on the end of the light to prevent or diminish scatter. That is just a rolled up tube or cylinder of flexible material I place over the end of the light.
www.flickr.com/photos/udijw/2862636559/in/set-72157602232660459/
For bigger areas I use constant on or "static" video lights. They are dimmable LED lights. I place them on a small tripod about 30 - 60 yards away. I use this small tripod:
www.amazon.com/dp/B004W4BAUO/ref=sr_ph_1?m=A2LM6ZPY06LT1N&ie=UTF8&qid=1436649689&sr=1&keywords=small+tripod
It is 42" high and weighs 1 lb, and fits in my luggage and pack easily. If I did not have to take airline flights I would use something taller or bigger. You need to get these lights up off the ground to decrease shadows. The LED lights are to blue, so they come with a warming filter and a diffusion filter. I use both all the time. I tape around the sides to prevent light leaks around sides of the filters. When you see one of these you will see want I mean.The one light I use the most is the F&V Z96 light:
www.amazon.com/HDV-Z96-96-LED-Light-Kit/dp/B003UCGDSS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_421_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=02WSRH8S48KXA07J6GEP
I turn it on low and leave it on and take a photo and adjust accordingly. It is best to place it about 45 degrees off to the side. Here are some others I have tried:
Neewer 160 LED:www.amazon.com/NEEWER®-Dimmable-Digital-Camcorder-Panasonic/dp/B004TJ6JH6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436650355&sr=8-2&keywords=video+light+neewer
This one is usually too bright even at low settings.Ones I have tried recently and like:
Neewer 56 LED:www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B3SISO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
It's dimmable, light, and pretty powerful, and costs $20. I like it a lot.
Newer 36 LED:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YQP3TE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
It's small, dimmable, and pretty powerful, about $19. I place it inside arches and small spaces. If it is still too bright I place a cloth napkin, or handkerchief, or lens cloth, or even paper napkins over the front to damp the light.Since you are exposing for the stars, it does not take much light. I usually use the on the lower settings and leave them on. You can barely see them in person until your eyes adapt.
Here are more photos from Bisti. For the panoramas I used the video lights. For the individual hoodoos I used bounce light from the halogen spotlight.
lightcrafter.smugmug.com/Nightscapes/Bisti-Badlands-New-Mexico/
Hope this helps! Cheers, Wayne
A Perfect Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: A Perfect Night for Photography in the Valley of Dreams East, In the New Mexico Badlands. There was a lot of airglow in one area of the sky, adding a lot of color. You can see how bizarre the landscape is, a very alien and otherworldly place. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
Window to the World by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Anasazi Part 3: Image... Your picture window is 100 feet (30 m) hight and 200 feet (60 m) wide. It looks out over a wash filled with cottonwood trees, small brush, wildflowers, and intermittenty a small stream. In the distance are ridges and hills, and beyond that is a broad plain or wash where you may grow crops in wetter times. The trail winds up the side of the ridge. The glow of cooking fires illuminates the alcove or cave with a golden glow. Above the plains you look out on a star filled sky and seasonally on the Milky Way. The night sky is woven into your life as naturally as the day. The stars and seasons flow past endlessly. We may have electric lights, TV, movies, You Tube, and Flickr :-) , but the Anasazi or Ancient Puebloans had a view to die for. Since some of the structures are defensive, they may well have died defending their home. The Anasazi or Ancient Puebloans lived in the four corners region of the Southwest USA in pre-columbian times, approximately from 700 AD to 1200 AD, abandoning the area in the 13th century, possibly because of drought. This is a panorama of the Monarch Cave Anasazi Ruins in the Comb Ridge region of SE Utah. There are 11 vertical images combined in Lightroom.. Taken with a Nikon 810A camera and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec., and ISO 6400. There is one very large alcove but separated into two sections. I am sitting on a 30 - 45 degree stone wall that separated the two sections. To the left is the larger section and the easiest to reach. Most of the structures there are destroyed, but there are a few low walls and many pits for grinding grain, as well as some petroglyphs and pictographs. The section to the right is harder to reach and in better condition, with several rooms and rounded walls. A wide overhang unites the two sides. The Milky Way hugs the far left edge of the sky, only partially seen. As a consolation prize, we have the Andromeda Galaxy in the left center sky, the double cluster, and several additional faint galaxies. Disclaimer: No ruins were harmed or touched in the making of this photo! Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog
Moccasin Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama, 4 images, 14 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec., ISO 8000 Moccasin Arch in Monument Valley. The Arch is a huge cavernous alcove with an opening in the side of the "roof". This is a photo of some of my fellow photographers taking photos within Moccasin Arch. I was taking photos of them while they were photographing the arch. It turned out that I liked this one more than my views looking straight outward from the arch. The photographers in the photo give you a sense of scale. The Arch is huge! A big thank you to Quanah from Majestic Monument Valley Tours for taking us there. Thank you! He is highly recommend if you want to take a night tour in Monument Valley (day tours also). Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Double Arch Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook From the archives but I've never posted this here before. This is a panorama of Double Arch in Arches National Park. 12mm fisheye lens, 10 vertical images, f/2.8, 30 seconds, ISO 10,000. This is basically a panorama of the inside of a spherical object. I’ve only done this a few times as there is infrequent need for this, but it is hands down the most fun panorama for me to do. It’s a bit more technically challenging than a standard pano. A panorama was done because I could not fit the entire scene on one frame, even with a 12mm fisheye lens and climbing the back wall (exciting in the dark!). In the past I had tried to do this pano with a 15 mm fisheye lens and still didn’t get as much coverage as I desired from top to bottom, so I returned 2 years later to try it with a new 12mm fisheye. This project took several hours to get the Low Level Lighting and positioning and exposures done. Unfortunately you pretty much need the location all to yourself or you’ll drive other people crazy running in and out of the arch. Anyway, I at least learned 2 new things. First, I could get the whole scene in a 12 mm pano but there was a lot more distortion to correct with the 12 mm fisheye compared with to 15 mm fisheye. Second, the distortion really depends on where you stand and even a few feet of difference can change the whole look of the results. It’s important to get level with the second arch to minimize distortion. So... now I want to go back and try again but it’s getting harder to get this location all to yourself these days.
Boot Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Boot Arch in the Alabama Hills of California. Nikon D810A Camera, 14-24 mm lens, 24 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec., ISO 10,000. Lighting with Low Level Lighting (LLL). For more info about this technique please see www.lowlevellighting.org For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here. Cheers, Wayne
From a Watery Origin by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Tufas arising from their watery origins. These tufas are composed of calcium carbonate which precipitates out of the water from springs lying along the lake bed over millennia. Some are seen arising from the lake while others are now exposed on land after the shoreline has receded. Stacked image for the sky, long exposure for the foreground (3 minutes at ISO 1600).
White Pocket Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama at White Pocket, Arizona. 10 images, 14 mm, f 2.0, 25 sec., ISO 12,800. I think this might be my first pano of the MW Arch in August. Typically I find the MW is too high to get onto a single row Pano by that time of year. Somehow I was able to fit the whole sweep of the MW onto a vertical 14 mm Pano. You can tell it is getting late in the MW season because the core has set relatively quickly during the night. There is still plenty on MW to see though! Note the Andromada Galaxy near the top of the frame, above the Milky Way, to the right. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
