Ghost Bike

Ian D J

Ian D J

Michael Fish
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Ian D J
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After seeing a photo of someone (forgot the user name) having done the same thing to a brand new Mini, I thought I'd have a crack at it myself.

I took myself right out into the middle of nowhere last night, miles away from any street lighting and armed with a LED light and the D40 set for a 30 seconds long exposure, I then got to work light painting my brand new Yammy YBR 125 . . .

ghostbike.jpg


Does it work or do I need to get myself back out there again? The latter I'm not at all keen on since at one time a walker scared the bejesus out of me by appearing out of nowhere in total darkness and shouted out "'Ere, mate, *** you're doin', eh?!". He didn't have a torch or any reflective lighting on him!
 
I like it!! Just love the total blackness of the background with the shinyness of the bike :D if you were to do it again......

1) turn the front wheel the other way and light it more
2) the fuel tank is a little too bright


but its a cracker (y)
 
Dave450 said:
I like it!! Just love the total blackness of the background with the shinyness of the bike :D if you were to do it again......

1) turn the front wheel the other way and light it more
2) the fuel tank is a little too bright


but its a cracker (y)
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Cheers for that very positive comment! An excellent start!

Yes, I should have thought about having the front wheel at a right angle to the camera, and I can see what you mean about the blown highlight on the tank. At that time my hands were shaking too much! :help: :LOL:
 
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I really like that actually. Agree with previous comment about turning the front wheel the other way. It looks a little bit 'lost' at the mo. Nice work though (y)
 
I like it too, I never managed to get this to work when I've tried, must need a more powerful torch.
Agree that the front wheel is a little lost.
 
I really like this shot, as previously said a bit more on the front wheel and perhaps the handlebars and it would be great (y)
 
:) :) :) Excellent comments which has been commited to memory for future attempts and am pleased to see how this photo is a "hit". Made me glad I've dropped off this photo after all. :clap: (y)
 
Good first effort - fair play for having a try. Also you did well to get the whole bike lit in 30sec - I know from light painting cars it's both time consuming and frustrating, but equally satisfying when you get it right.

When you next try (as I'm sure you will ;) ) have a go at lighting the far side of the bike from beyond it, you'll find this gives some definition to the edges of the bike where presently the bike just fades in to the all-dark background. This is easier when you're using a longer lens - say >50mm - as the narrow field of view allows you to light back towards the camera without your torch appearing in the shot.

Beyond that, the next step would be to try different light sources to see the effect they have - something more diffused, for instance.

Good luck :)
 
That is one sweeeeeet photo, i've never seen anything like it before! This phenomenon that you call light painting is something i MUST try after seeing this, wow i tell ya i can't believe i've not come across this before.
Top notch photo mate, it has inspired me to try it out myself, so thank you!
Steve.
 
AndWhyNot said:
Good first effort - fair play for having a try. Also you did well to get the whole bike lit in 30sec - I know from light painting cars it's both time consuming and frustrating, but equally satisfying when you get it right.

When you next try (as I'm sure you will ;) ) have a go at lighting the far side of the bike from beyond it, you'll find this gives some definition to the edges of the bike where presently the bike just fades in to the all-dark background. This is easier when you're using a longer lens - say >50mm - as the narrow field of view allows you to light back towards the camera without your torch appearing in the shot.

Beyond that, the next step would be to try different light sources to see the effect they have - something more diffused, for instance.

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

What a superb post, full of useful advices! I'm already leafing through the Argos catalogue looking at various kind of torches I can use. :D

c4rv3r said:
That is one sweeeeeet photo, i've never seen anything like it before! This phenomenon that you call light painting is something i MUST try after seeing this, wow i tell ya i can't believe i've not come across this before.
Top notch photo mate, it has inspired me to try it out myself, so thank you!
Steve.
Click to expand...

What a very heartwarming post! Glad the photo is not only being liked a lot, but is also having the effect of making other people wanting to give it a go.
Be warned, though, it's not as easy as it looks! I did something about 20 attempts and the one shown in here is what I thought is the best of the lot. :wacky: :LOL:
 
That looks great! As has already been said, little more light on front wheel and... boot? and a little less on the fuel tank, otherwise superb first effort!

I'm tempted to try this myself now. How quickly do you move the torch around when doing this?
 
morsing said:
That looks great! As has already been said, little more light on front wheel and... boot? and a little less on the fuel tank, otherwise superb first effort!

I'm tempted to try this myself now. How quickly do you move the torch around when doing this?
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Hi, and thanks for the positive post.

As for your question . . . very quickly I may have to say! I set the camera for a 30 secs exposure and then I just went for it, weaving the LED torch all over the bike hoping I got what I needed!
Next time I try this, I'll bring the remote shutter control with me and set the camera to BULB mode, then that way I can take a bit more time on the light painting bit.
 
What effect (other than changing the colour!) would coloured gels have? Maybe lighting the same section but with a different colour each time...might be a dogs dinner I guess...

Speaking of dogs...walker my uhrs, dogger/cottager more like!
 
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