Stream at night lit by flashlight

rainbow

I was up in the High Sierras camping by a stream at a site called "Indian Falls". The moon was not due up for a few hours and so it was near pitch dark, except for a few stars and the planet that is seen in the photo.

So I decided to try painting the scene with my flashlight on a 15 - 30 second exposure, using a 180 lumen light (bright!) while placing my 40D on a small backpack pillow as a "tripod". All of the light is provided by the flashlight which is painted back and forth across the scene to highlight anything I want to show in the photo. What is of interest to me is that the underwater rocks come through clearly as the higher rocks do not cast reflections on the water as they are lit only when the water is in the dark.

Scene was shot in landscape mode, but cropped due to a too-brightly lit tree on the left (next to the too-brightly lit rock).

Shot with 40D at 10mm, f/5.6, ISO 800

InsuredDisaster

Hey, I bet you had a great camping trip. Must be beautiful up there.

I like the sky in this shot, and wish I could have seen more. I dont particularly like the 20-25% of the shot that is being taken up by the bank in the forground. I wonder if aiming the camera up a bit (I understand that you didn't have the latest Manfrotto tripod with remote controlled ball head) would remove the bank, and include more of the sky?


I think your idea to light up the earth with your flash light was a pretty cool idea. It kept the stars showing up as dots so this was one of the reasons I think the sky is so cool.

Dogdots

Neat idea -- glad to see there is someone else who uses a flashlight other then me

brvheart

nice idea - question what kind of flashlight did you use? Looks as if it lit things up rather nicely

rainbow

InsuredDisaster wrote:

Hey, I bet you had a great camping trip. Must be beautiful up there.

I like the sky in this shot, and wish I could have seen more. I dont particularly like the 20-25% of the shot that is being taken up by the bank in the forground. I wonder if aiming the camera up a bit (I understand that you didn't have the latest Manfrotto tripod with remote controlled ball head) would remove the bank, and include more of the sky?


I think your idea to light up the earth with your flash light was a pretty cool idea. It kept the stars showing up as dots so this was one of the reasons I think the sky is so cool.

Thanks for the interest. I agree that having more of the sky would have made for a better photo. I used the 10 - 22 mm zoom and my mind set with this is to include foreground and I was not even thinking about composing the best photo. It also would have been difficult because I could see nothing through the viewfinder (it was set near ground level and essentially pitch dark).

Mostly, I was having a fun time wondering if I could get the exposure right with the flashlight and then looking at the results in the viewfinder.

rainbow

Dogdots wrote:

Neat idea -- glad to see there is someone else who uses a flashlight other then me

Thanks for the response. Do you have other creative and fun ways to use a flashlight for photography?

Tee Why

Eerie and cool.

rainbow

brvheart wrote:

nice idea - question what kind of flashlight did you use? Looks as if it lit things up rather nicely

Spending money on flashlights can be almost as fun as spending it on photo gear (and much cheaper!).

I used a Fenix PD20. It uses one CR123A battery. The unit is only 3 1/4 inches long and probably 2 or 3 ounces. It is small enough that I carry it everywhere in a pocket. And yet the output (at 180 lumens) is immense, appearing about as bright as in the photo (but covering a much smaller area if held steady).

AFBlue

Interesting effect and a nice shot -- I'll have to put this on my list to things to try.

Understand the limitations you were facing, but it is too bad that the camera wasn't tilted up a little more so the sky would be more prominent. But, still, a neat shot.

Dogdots

rainbow wrote:

Thanks for the response. Do you have other creative and fun ways to use a flashlight for photography?

This thread shows a photo I took using a flashlight. I actually use a flashlight for most my indoor photos. I did a few outdoor ones, but not landscape as you did. That really was a neat idea

My outdoor ones at night.

As for any more ideas -- the only thing I can say is keep the flashlight close by because you never know when you might want to try it out on something.

rainbow

Dogdots wrote:

This thread shows a photo I took using a flashlight. I actually use a flashlight for most my indoor photos. I did a few outdoor ones, but not landscape as you did. That really was a neat idea

My outdoor ones at night.

As for any more ideas -- the only thing I can say is keep the flashlight close by because you never know when you might want to try it out on something.

That is a great creative shot using a flashlight AND a magnifier! Unlike mine, your photo stands on its own as a wonderful photo.

Dogdots

rainbow wrote:

That is a great creative shot using a flashlight AND a magnifier! Unlike mine, your photo stands on its own as a wonderful photo.

Thank you -- I'm glad you liked it.

But you showed me what can be done with a flashlight out in the woods at night. Now I just need the nerve to go out into the woods at night :yikes

Looking forward to seeing some flashlight photos you take