Nightlife Technique

[Amekaze]

http://www.ambrel.net/2007/0307-shindig/slides/IMG_1775_polaroid.html

Just want to ask if anyone here has any idea on how the above shot was taken? In particular, I'm trying to find out how those twirls of lights got in there. There are more in http://www.ambrel.net. In fact, his lighting and shots are really nice. Anyone able to decipher what's his general technique like?

It's a nice portfolio of a nightlife photographer by the way. Just a caution... it's NSFW. :bsmilie:

 

[catchlights]

double exposure,

one frame with human as subjects,
another frame aim at some light source, eg light bulb, shoot in long exposure, add movement while making exposure.

 

[tribal.snake]

dun think is double exposure, would be hard given the condition, can't be sure.

the lights look like those from laser lights, common in european clubs.
looks like shot with rear sync flash.

 

[psychobiologist]

its not difficult i think.

at least this is how i think its done.

on a nikon with multiple exposure setting, set it to 2 shots, On.

take the first shot, long exposure, small aperture, so you will catch all the cigarette butt spiralling etc

after first shot done, adjust aperture, adjust shutter, pop the flash up, and snap a person or an object.. somewhere else

lemme try an example gimme a min..

 

[psychobiologist]

haha.. rush job not well done but i think you might get my idea.. oops.. my laser was a bit too bright..

1) f14-> 10 sec i opened the shutter and started writing on the wall with my laser pointer
2) after shutter closed, i set the aperture to f5, popped the flash and snapped anything else like in this case.. a book on a shelf..

the camera will do the "merging"

 

[Youhong]

It's unlikely to be double exposure... In clubs, the clubbers wouldn't wait for you to do you double exposure, most likely you need to one-shot-one kill...

The images looks like light painting to me...

 

[psychobiologist]

It's unlikely to be double exposure... In clubs, the clubbers wouldn't wait for you to do you double exposure, most likely you need to one-shot-one kill...

The images looks like light painting to me...

you can do still do double exposure i think, the first one being the flashed one at the subject you are interested..i.e the people etc

the second one just move over to the bar.. take a sit.. open the shutter.. for a while to pick the spirals. if the second picture is dark enough, when overlapped, the first pic will dominate..

 

[psychobiologist]

the first picture i posted was the long exposure first with writing, with the books as the second shot.

this picture is done with the object snapped first, and the 2nd shot done with writing on the wall.. forgive my.. poor.. handwriting

 

[ryuggen]

slow/rear with flash might do the job.

The added effect can be done like what psychobiologist had described.

2 exposure shots are highly unlikely.

 

[Youhong]

you can do still do double exposure i think, the first one being the flashed one at the subject you are interested..i.e the people etc

the second one just move over to the bar.. take a sit.. open the shutter.. for a while to pick the spirals. if the second picture is dark enough, when overlapped, the first pic will dominate..

True, BUT at a commercial level, it is not practical to do so... If your second shot is gone, it's gone... If I'm not wrong, for double exposure, you still need to half depress your shutter button... At clubs, with so many people knocking into you, it's hardly easy to maintain that... :bsmilie:

Good idea though, maybe I want to try that sometime...

I think that the photographer is using very slow shutter speed... Expose for majority of the time, then just before the shutter closes, move the camera... In that way, subject maybe reasonable sharp and the background lights gets blurred off like lightpainting...

 

[psychobiologist]

True, BUT at a commercial level, it is not practical to do so... If your second shot is gone, it's gone... If I'm not wrong, for double exposure, you still need to half depress your shutter button... At clubs, with so many people knocking into you, it's hardly easy to maintain that... :bsmilie:

Good idea though, maybe I want to try that sometime...

yeah true. one shot one kill is better

hmm.. for double exposure dont need depress the shuttle halfway too..can go for a cup of coffee and come back take the 2nd shot.. hehe.. the camera will have the multiple shot thing blinking.. in both my examples, one picture is done on autofocus, the wordings are done in manual focus..

and as per one shot one kill.. you get similar effects, except you need a good flash on the subject.. here's an example again.. ok you can see i'm really bored.. long exposure with flash..

the spiralling was due to a dancing camera and not.. the object moving though.. :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[catchlights]

only some of the shots are done that way, the rest of the shot are slow shutter, or normal type shots.

 

[Amekaze]

Many thanks for the replies guys. Especially psychobiologist, really appreciate the effort.
Like Youhong mentioned, it really isn't easy with clubbers knocking into you here and there, more so in a packed one.

I've actually thought of multiple exposure. But I doubt I can do it with just my D70.
And psychobiologist, to your last photo, I believe the streaks of lights are coming from the blue lights on the volume control thing? And when you mean long exposure, how long was it?

As for one shot kill, I'm getting decent results with a bit of motion blur and reasonable sharp people shots with the rear sync flash but the lights can go nowhere near like those streaks. I can't go really long because I do get people to pose and it's not really possible to get them to hold it for so long.

Nonetheless, I think I'm getting a hint of how this works. Maybe I'll try with a black card or my lens cap with the shutter on bulb the next time I'm out.

I'm also trying to tackle noise. Sometimes I think the ISO800 seem to be way too grainy especially in the darks. Maybe I ought to get the right exposure first. I'll see if I can post results from my next assignment.

 

[psychobiologist]

Many thanks for the replies guys. Especially psychobiologist, really appreciate the effort.
Like Youhong mentioned, it really isn't easy with clubbers knocking into you here and there, more so in a packed one.

I've actually thought of multiple exposure. But I doubt I can do it with just my D70.
And psychobiologist, to your last photo, I believe the streaks of lights are coming from the blue lights on the volume control thing? And when you mean long exposure, how long was it?

As for one shot kill, I'm getting decent results with a bit of motion blur and reasonable sharp people shots with the rear sync flash but the lights can go nowhere near like those streaks. I can't go really long because I do get people to pose and it's not really possible to get them to hold it for so long.

Nonetheless, I think I'm getting a hint of how this works. Maybe I'll try with a black card or my lens cap with the shutter on bulb the next time I'm out.

I'm also trying to tackle noise. Sometimes I think the ISO800 seem to be way too grainy especially in the darks. Maybe I ought to get the right exposure first. I'll see if I can post results from my next assignment.

no probs. we're all here to learn and to share

the blue lines are from the volume control thing, and i shot it in total darkness. it was done at 8 secs on f8.

in a real life scenario it depends on the smokers or the moving lights.. how fast they are moving/spiralling.. i suppose for those spiral effects, maybe one has to move the camera more than waiting for the natural action to occur.

 

[catchlights]

Looks simple but not easy to do it??

he is a professional, that's the reason.