a series 2 long exposure night trails
Jun, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Liverpool, just near the docksTime
This photo was taken just after the sun had set at 6.20Lighting
This is a long exposure, taken at a 30 seconds. By using such a long exposure the ambient lights from the street lamps create a fall off which gives the twinkle effect you can see in the image, I waited for traffic to be passing by before starting the exposure to get the light trails that can be seen. The different heights of light trails are from both busses and cars.Equipment
I used a Nikon D5000 for this exposure With a standard kit lens if 18-55, it's a DX camera. You do not need fancy equipment to create this effect. The camera was set up on a tripod and set to a 30 second exposure, ISO at 160 and aperture at F22, once the traffic lights changed to green I started the exposure and stepped away from the camera to avoid and camera shake. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
I was inspired to take this image by Liverpool itself, I wanted to show the city by night capturing a feeling of movement which in itself gives the impression of life.Editing
During post processing I simples added some warmth to the image by adjusting the colour balance and slightly upped the saturation.In my camera bag
My camera bag generally consists of two camera bodies. A Nikon D700 and the Nikon D5000 used for this image. I have 3 lens that stay in my bag, A 50mm, a 70-300 zoom and a 18-70 wide angle. I also carry my flash gun I use a Yongnuo YN560-II along with spare camera batteries and my eneloop rechargeable batteries for the flash gun. I also carry a small flash gun soft box (or diffuser) my pen and pad for any notes or inspiration and my lipstick :) xFeedback
Make sure it's dark unless you are using a stopper, always set up a sturdy tripod for long exposures, A shutter release cable would be advisable to avoid camera shake, I did not use one for this image but it's better as pressing the shutter by hand can cause movement, If it's light trails your after keep an eye on the on coming traffic, vehicles of different heights will make for a more interesting image. Keep ISO low to avoid noise the long exposure will allow enough light to hit the sensor, also a a small aperture as this will give a sharer image and again the long exposed will let the light in. Experiment and have fun, water is also interesting for long exposures and the set up is the same .
