"Painting" with a flashlight: I plan on going to the Sierra Nevada next month to photograph the meteor shower and do a 1/2 hour time exposure of the sky with the North star in the...

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

I plan on going to the Sierra Nevada next month to photograph the meteor shower and do a 1/2 hour time exposure of the sky with the North star in the center of the frame. There will be a new moon. The place I plan on shooting at has this great looking big dead tree that will of course be in the foreground. My question is..................how long do I need to "paint" this foreground tree with a good flashlight?? I'll be using a 5 cell Maglight that focuses. Do I just shine the flashlight on the tree or do I take the flashlight and slowly shine it up and down the trunk and then do the same for the dead branches???

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

missletoe wrote:

I plan on going to the Sierra Nevada next month to... (show quote)

There are a LOT of resources on the web to get this info but my quick take on it is to "paint" like a brush...move the light around; to sit the light in one spot is to put a "blob" of paint there.

Beyond this...I think it's a "try it and see" sort of thing...

Half hour?

Are you trying for star trails?

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I would do a few short test shots, just keep the shutter open and start painting the tree, until you get what you like (talking about the tree). If you figured that out, do your Nightsky shot and at the end follow up with doing it again as before.

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

rpavich wrote:

There are a LOT of resources on the web to get this info but my quick take on it is to "paint" like a brush...move the light around; to sit the light in one spot is to put a "blob" of paint there.

Beyond this...I think it's a "try it and see" sort of thing...

Half hour?

Are you trying for star trails?

Yes, I will be trying for star tails and the possible occasional meteorite might stray by..

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

speters wrote:

I would do a few short test shots, just keep the shutter open and start painting the tree, until you get what you like (talking about the tree). If you figured that out, do your Nightsky shot and at the end follow up with doing it again as before.

Thank you !!!!!

Allen Hirsch Loc: Oakland, CA

Very little - less than you think.

Trial & error a couple shorter exposures of the tree, then you can do your long exposure and combine/mask in Photoshop - or just do the same light painting that worked best in the short exposure of your foreground in the long exposure.

Here's a couple folios with light painting:

http://allenh.zenfolio.com/f290041440

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

Allen Hirsch wrote:

Very little - less than you think.

Trial & error a couple shorter exposures of the tree, then you can do your long exposure and combine/mask in Photoshop - or just do the same light painting that worked best in the short exposure of your foreground in the long exposure.

Here's a couple folios with light painting:

http://allenh.zenfolio.com/f290041440

Thank You soooo much. His photos where taken in the high sierras also . I loved the examples of the "painting" with the tree in the forground.....just what I want to do.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

if you have an off camera flash you can remotely set off that would be another option than painting with a torch. Practice with a low setting and with a high setting on the flash. you can also try front light/side light or backlight the tree in this manner.

or cheat and take a photo of the tree with flash and merge with stary sky

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

missletoe wrote:

I plan on going to the Sierra Nevada next month to... (show quote)

M, that will depend a lot on your light. It also depends on the size of the tree.
Remember the inverse square law. The part of the tree directly I front of you will be easy to paint but as the branches get farther away the light falls of quickly and needs much more exposure.
Can you do the tree and the stars as a composite, where you can work on them separately? I know if your doing a one hour or more on the stars(trails?) you don't get a lot of chances.
Also the stars are usually done with NO moon at all to get total darkness and maximize the starlight for trails. With a moon you may overexpose very quickly. Not sure how the meteor trails will come out during a full moon. Anyway just a few quick thoughts. Good luck. ;-)
SS

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

SharpShooter wrote:

M, that will depend a lot on your light. It also d... (show quote)

I plan on being there for the Orionids meteor shower that peaks on Oct. 21. Also on Oct 23rd is a new moon (no moon) so I won't have any problem with light from the moon. This is why I intend to be up there probably Oct 21-Oct 24th or 25th. Thank you for you insight

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

G Brown wrote:

if you have an off camera flash you can remotely set off that would be another option than painting with a torch. Practice with a low setting and with a high setting on the flash. you can also try front light/side light or backlight the tree in this manner.

or cheat and take a photo of the tree with flash and merge with stary sky

Thank you for the idea but I'm going to try "painting". I may try painting with the light on the back of the tree....nice idea and thank you

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

SharpShooter wrote:

M, that will depend a lot on your light. It also d... (show quote)

New moon = no moon at night :-)

It also depends highly on your ISO.
As mentioned above, take a few trial shots while painting the tree.
You can either add them to the long exposure (composite), or use the info garnered from the test shots to paint to your liking.

The big thing in painting is to keep the light moving.
Just light when using an airbrush, don't reverse direction on the subject. Run past, then change direction.
With that light make sure you spread the beam out as much as possible. When focused it has a real hot spot! Even while keeping the light moving, you may end up with nasty hotspots on your image.

Another tip, when lighting the tree, don't feel you HAVE to light it from the camera position. Take a page from the portraitists, and light from off camera axis.
If you make a bunch of shorter duration images that you can composite, you can use a lot of different lighting scenarios and pick the one(s) you like best.

Have fun!

GT

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

GTinSoCal wrote:

New moon = no moon at night :-) br br It also dep... (show quote)

Thank you GT you bring up some very interesting ideas. You living in Palmdale might know where I'll be going if your familiar with the Kern River area. I take the Western Divide Highway and then drive down the dirt road to Dome Rock. It has an unobtrusive view to the North with the Needles and the Sierra Nevada in the distance.

nakkh Loc: San Mateo, Ca

Paint the tree with light like you are squirting it with a water hose.

missletoe wrote:

I plan on going to the Sierra Nevada next month to... (show quote)

missletoe Loc: Tujunga, CA

nakkh wrote:

Paint the tree with light like you are squirting it with a water hose.

Thank you.......that's kind of what I thought. I just wanted to ask the UHH members for their input