Tutorial Photography Guide: Light Trails

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These are the first images i took in my attempt at Light Trails, They aint great, they were taken with my 650D along with a 28mm FD lens using a FD-EF adapter,
 
Firstly, play with the white balance, they are quite orange due to the street lights.

Secondly, did you use a tripod as they seem a little soft. I can't check exif info either on this PC which a pain so can't give too much advice.
 
Yes, i did use a small tripod connected to the fence (really small one, just to hold it steady)

This was my first attempt that this and want to work on it more, Any more advice would be great :)
 
MWHCVT said:
Oh yeah I'd say that were spot on (y) there is not a specific thread but I'm considering starting a thread for general light painting questions as sort of Q and A thread if you like (y) rather than a full on guide
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This is amazing, would like to know to achieve such a shot..
 
Allen_Baker said:
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These are the first images i took in my attempt at Light Trails, They aint great, they were taken with my 650D along with a 28mm FD lens using a FD-EF adapter,
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Sorry that it's taken me over a week to respond to your post I've been laid up with a nasty chest infection that has drained my energy and left me on bed rest for over a week :(

My main concerns in the technical aspect of photo's is the focus they all appear very soft, I suspect this is caused by camera vibration since you mentioned attaching your tripod to the bridge/fence this is not really ideal as any vibration in the object you attach to will also be shown in the picture

The location is not the best simply because it's always going to be very hard to get amazing results under street lights..

What were your settings for these exposure in terms of aperture, ISO and exposure time, my guess is a relativity wide aperture was used
 
Postie90 said:
This is amazing, would like to know to achieve such a shot..
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Orbs are easy enough to achieve, put basically you've got a light source on the bottom of a cable/string with a switch in your hand, this is then spun vertically around a single axis point (y) see the video I posted earlier in the thread (y)
 
Scottish Mike said:
This was my first attempt at light trails about a month ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottish_mike/8630179669/
Bus Trail by Scottish Mike, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottish_mike/8631287906/
Round the Roundabout by Scottish Mike, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottish_mike/8631288610/
Red and Yellow by Scottish Mike, on Flickr

I need to get out of the city centre to get rid of the streetlights.
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Not bad first attempts the first one does seem to have a rather strong green colour cast to it, The best advice I could get these ones however would be to try and get into position with as few obstructions between you and light source as possible
 
Not bad efforts at all thought you might want to look at correcting the colours a little it's always going to be difficult to get nice colours when shooting under street lights, if you use a tungsten white balance you'll tend to get the best results unless to use a custom white balance, if you shot is RAW then you can correct the colours in PP very easily (y)

Matt
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm currently shooting in jpeg and left it on auto white balance. I'll switch to RAW i think!
 
xlan said:
Thanks for the advice. I'm currently shooting in jpeg and left it on auto white balance. I'll switch to RAW i think!
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RAW gives you the most editing power but it will take a little time to get used to
 
I'm giving this a shot tonight on a bridge up by saddleworth moor just off the m62 on a bridge. Using 30 sec exposure as I don't have a trigger but I'll see how I get on :) I'll post the results tomorrow :)
 
Jdevaney89 said:
I'm giving this a shot tonight on a bridge up by saddleworth moor just off the m62 on a bridge. Using 30 sec exposure as I don't have a trigger but I'll see how I get on :) I'll post the results tomorrow :)
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Welcome to the forum, remember to set a 2 second delay on your camera to ensure that it has stopped wobbling after you've pressed the shutter (y) I look forward to seeing your results (y)
 
Jdevaney89 said:
Here are my results, im not too pleased if im honest, critique wanted please :)
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I'm only on my phone ATM when I fire up the computer a little later today I'll take a proper look and comment (y)
 
Thank you buddy! Just bought an infrared shutter release so ill have another go at some point, there is infact dust on the images! Wounded about it but like i said ill be taking another visit when the daylight starts to decrease earlier.
 
Thanks! Was fairly quiet on that road around 11pm at night - just happened to notice that clock tower when I was walking home so turned right around when I got my camera and went out!

Very few cars meant few trails :(
 
I love this guide, definitely my type of photography. Once I have learnt the basics of my camera I will be trying this out.
 
I've done a few light trails over the last few nights so I thought I'd put up a picture and show you guys. I'm still very much a n00b at this but I'm willing to learn :)

 
I've no idea what blowout is haha. Erm from memory I think it was bulb mode, F8 and ISO 100.
 
Mythril said:
I've no idea what blowout is haha. Erm from memory I think it was bulb mode, F8 and ISO 100.
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f/8 might be the issue maybe next time use a little smaller aperture. Blow out as in blown (over exposed) highlights
 
No worries, Matt. I really had no local knowledge and wanted the cooling towers....then when I got home I thought "b***er" :D
 
damianmkv said:
No worries, Matt. I really had no local knowledge and wanted the cooling towers....then when I got home I thought "b***er" :D
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Google Earth and Street View can save you a lot of driving (y)
 
Shame about the light but having earlier in the year done a complete trip round the 25 just for the fun of it I do know just how much of it is illuminated :( you've done a good job on this though and retained clarity on both head and tail lights, only slight grumble is I wish you'd got there when there was colour in the sky...

But to important stuff...how was the Chinese :D
 
Round the m25 for fun, Matt ??? Were you bored ? It's a PITA for me but hey ho...
The light is the wife's fault for being out all day, shopping :( and therefore leading to being late.

Dinner was an Indian - and bloomin' smashing it was too (y)
 
damianmkv said:
Round the m25 for fun, Matt ??? Were you bored ? It's a PITA for me but hey ho...
The light is the wife's fault for being out all day, shopping :( and therefore leading to being late.

Dinner was an Indian - and bloomin' smashing it was too (y)
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That's good then :) I read takeaway and saw it as Chinese probably because I've got a serious hunger on for one :)
Cg_Girl said:
Ooh yay:banana:
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:)
 
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