Low Level Lighting

[davew]

In the past I've almost always lit my night scenes with targeted torch waving. It's been a reasonably successful method and the more I practice the more I'm happy with it. There is a situation where it doesn't really work and that's over a large and open area. 

Last year I took a snap of the fishing pond and Orion at Kelling with no wide area lighting and this Autumn I tried low level lighting for the reeds and trees to see if it looked ok or not. Here's a side by side photo of the pond and you can see it's completely different. The image is a tad boring but it's just an experiment  🤨

 

I think it's very personal as to whether or not you like it and I have to say it looks too bright posted here but that too is personal. It looks a bit darker and subdued on my laptop. These images were taken with a 20mm lens but the one I've settled on below was taken with a 14mm lens and takes in a much wider area. As you can see from the trees and reeds it was slightly breezy !

 

I think in the main I like it and will be giving it a go more often. What I tend to do now is long exposure foregrounds and normal exposure skies blended together.

The method I used was setting up another tripod with a light attached on top way over to the left and leaving it switched on the entire time I was exposing. This won't be very popular with other imagers in the area however so it's a good job I tend to go out on my own  😎

I set the light rather " Warm " and some of my shots look like the reeds are on fire ! I'll try daylight settings next time.

Dave.

 

 

 

[James]

If this was a spot the difference competition I'd be shouting "Orion, ORION!!!"

I would say it'd be great to tag along when you're doing the lighting. I won't bother imaging, I'll just eat the kitkats...

Hmmm... would help timelapsing no end...

James

[davew]

Now then ... Timelapses. I hadn't thought too deeply about that but it's a good shout. I think it would take more effort to balance the colour temperature and light output than I've done here. I'll have to experiment, unless someone with colour balance experience can advise us ? 

Ha Ha. I ate all the dark chocolate mint KitKats already  I still have a chunky left over but as it doesn't travel well I'll have to eat that too !

Dave.

[clarkpm4242]

Great!  The amount of desirable light is definitely a personal taste, mine keeps changing.

It gives greater interest, depth and context to the image.

Another trick in the toolbox!

Cheers, Paul.

Edited October 27, 2023 by clarkpm4242

[davew]

Thanks Paul,

I seem to change what is acceptable lighting for me based on what is in the foreground as natural light with a long exposure often does the job better than I can !

23 hours ago, clarkpm4242 said:

It gives greater interest, depth and context to the image.

You are quite right.

There's an old abandoned quarry ( North of me and south of you ) I'll try and get to and give it another go.

Dave.

[FenlandPaul]

Super interesting post, Dave. 

I’ve used light painting and low level lighting in my images, and both can work in different contexts. Ive usually fixed the colour balance in post and not had issues, but getting the brightness right can be really hard as different screens and platforms render the image so differently - I’ve published some stuff that looked exactly as I intended on one laptop, only to view it later on another device and thought “crikey that’s gaudy”!

Personally at the moment for “big” foregrounds I prefer long exposures with no artificial lighting. But this changes over time. In the images above, I think I prefer your ambient Orion image, but both are nice.

Really enjoy experimenting and hearing different opinions on this!

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, FenlandPaul said:

I’ve used light painting and low level lighting in my images, and both can work in different contexts. Ive usually fixed the colour balance in post and not had issues, but getting the brightness right can be really hard as different screens and platforms render the image so differently - I’ve published some stuff that looked exactly as I intended on one laptop, only to view it later on another device and thought “crikey that’s gaudy”!

I agree with you Paul. Once you get an image how you like to see it, it will look completely horrible on other devices. I've been battling this recently with processing images to be able to print and sell them locally (yes I'm amazed too that people buy some)

As you say getting the brightness right is the key in processing. (I've been through many printing services to find the right one now) I've hopefully calibrated my laptop screen with a i1 display device and use soft proofing with the printing companys software plug in for photoshop to check. 

The low light level long exposure foreground is the way to go I think if it's big foregrounds. I've even used daytime captures of foregrounds and reduced the exposure to get it how I like it and blend the night sky in. 

I do enjoy light painting singular foreground objects to isolate them from the main foreground. 

On 26/10/2023 at 14:22, davew said:

think it's very personal as to whether or not you like it and I have to say it looks too bright posted here but that too is personal. It looks a bit darker and subdued on my laptop. These images were taken with a 20mm lens but the one I've settled on below was taken with a 14mm lens and takes in a much wider area. As you can see from the trees and reeds it was slightly breezy !

They are all great images, your Orion one is lovely. Im hoping to get some Orion Widefield in this winter and seeing yours gives me a lot of inspiration. 

A lot of images processed on pc or laptops don't look as great on some devices I find as I say above. 

Lee 

[clarkpm4242]

All of the above!  

What we need is the opportunities to play out!!

Was in a stupendous area north of Ullapool 2 - 3 weeks back with the aim of getting some big ambient light landscape foregrounds.   Could barely stand up in the winds and rain.

Hoping the season becomes more productive. 

Cheers, Paul.

 

[AstroNebulee]

18 minutes ago, clarkpm4242 said:

All of the above!  

What we need is the opportunities to play out!!

Was in a stupendous area north of Ullapool 2 - 3 weeks back with the aim of getting some big ambient light landscape foregrounds.   Could barely stand up in the winds and rain.

Hoping the season becomes more productive. 

Cheers, Paul.

 

Definitely need the opportunity to play out. Now with the clocks going back tonight and much darker nights coming 😁, hopefully the clear skies will happen and we'll all be capturing beautiful Orion Nightscapes. Good luck. 

 

Lee 

[FenlandPaul]

Good points @AstroNebulee. Very cool that you’ve been selling locally - great validation of your work!

As @clarkpm4242says, all we need is some decent clear nights now! It’s been over a month since I’ve managed a night out and I’m going slightly up the wall!!

[davew]

7 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

I’ve published some stuff that looked exactly as I intended on one laptop, only to view it later on another device and thought “crikey that’s gaudy”!

I've had a look at my 14mm LLL image side by side with it as it appears on my PC and the difference is mainly the colour balance. Rather Gaudy is a good description  It actually looks brighter on here but isn't ! It's the colour of the reeds that throws the eye so very interesting.

If I see a valley or hill I'll still do the long exposures but don't really blend day and night photos as Lee does.

Just as an aside, quite a few National Parks in the USA have now banned all photographic lighting, much to the anger of many imagers, even though you can drive through them with car headlights ablaze. I do understand though.

Dave

 

[davew]

4 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

I do enjoy light painting singular foreground objects to isolate them from the main foreground. 

You know Lee, I often like the chase of light painting and am all over the place with my torch. I bought a remote ( Up to 100m range ) just so I can indulge  

5 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

They are all great images, your Orion one is lovely. Im hoping to get some Orion Widefield in this winter and seeing yours gives me a lot of inspiration. 

Thanks very much mate. Orion has to be the finest sky target there is so good luck this winter.

Dave.

[davew]

4 hours ago, clarkpm4242 said:

What we need is the opportunities to play out!!

Never a truer word spoken. I often get in the situation where the forecasts say no and when it's too late to get out, the sky says yes !

I'll play around a bit more with the LLL and see where I get. I'll also try and match up lighting with timelapsing. It's still possible to process video of course but should be better if you get it reasonably right in camera which is not my greatest forte. I normally underexpose as modern sensors will take the abuse after stacking.

Cheers,

Dave.