Stationary Light Painting

Milky Way over granite pinnacles in the Alabama Hills - Tuttle Creek Canyon area ~ © Royce Bair
There are five battery-powered LED (with color filters) lights hidden among the rocks, and
another battery-powered main (or "key") light 300 feet to the right of this scene.
Canon 5D Mark III • Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 lens @ f/2.0 • 13" • ISO 5000

Stationary Light "Painting" sounds like an oxymoron. The very definition of light painting refers to hand held, moving lights. However, the problem with moving lights is inconsistency —it's virtually impossible to get the same results for each exposure.

Traditional light painting allows one to cover a large area with a small light, by moving the light back and forth (painting) during a long exposure. Good results are somewhat by chance and hard to repeat. However, it's this experimental randomness that can produce quirky and happy "mistakes" —considered "artistic" by some.

Lighting for Panoramas, Time Lapse and Group Photography: With all the challenges of astro-landscape photography, that are plenty of variables to manipulate and prove one's artistic abilities without having to deal with foreground lighting inconsistencies, especially if you are doing panoramas or time lapse photography. In panoramas, the foreground in each exposure must be lighted the same or the objects will not blend properly when stitched together. In time lapse sequences, the foreground lighting in each frame or exposure must be exactly the same the video will flicker. (In these time lapse scenes by Mike Darter, the only flicker comes from errant red headlamps being turned on, and me setting up the lights in the beginning exposures.)

When I light paint a landscape foreground for a workshop group, stationary or "sculptured" lighting, as I like to call it, allows the participates to move around and concentrate more on composition. They are not hampered by having to be in sync with the timing of the painting, only to discover later that their best compositions were paired with a bad painting sequence.

Despite the obvious advantages of sculptured lighting, I do both stationary (here's a step-by-step example) and traditional light painting (example), depending on the need and look I'm trying to create.

This is one of several "key" or main light set-ups I use in my stationary or "sculptured" lighting.
Everything but the sandbag (5.) is available through Paul C. Buff, Inc. (1.) 11-inch Long Throw (28º)
Silver Reflector. (2.) AlienBees B1600 Flash Unit. (3.) Vagabond Mini Lithium (true sine wave
portable power source for 120 volt AC). (4.) Light stand. (5.) Sandbag. (6.) Bag for B1600. (7.) Bag for
Vagabond. (8.) Closeup of Vagabond. (9) Closeup of B1600 Flash Unit back — flash and model light
power are variable from full to 1/32 power. Modeling light is the light source for most of my NightScapes.

Quartz Halogen Lights and Lithium Powered Inverters, such as the highly efficient and light weight Vagabond Mini (through Paul C. Buff, Inc.) are a great way to provide about two hours of constant main or "key" lighting. The new Vagabond Lithium Extreme can easily provide about three hours of constant light. Although these units are made for powering studio size flash units like the 640 Ws B1600 (providing up to 500 full-power flashes), it is the use of the quartz halogen modeling light (without the flash) that I am employing here.

The flash unit will accept quartz halogen bulbs up to 150-watts, but 100-watt and even 60-watt bulbs are often more practical. In the top photo of the Alabama Hills, I used a 150-watt bulb reduced to 1/8 power (even at a distance of about 300 feet from the pinnacles). When you are shooting star-scapes at ISO's of 3200 to 6400, it is surprising how little light is needed in the foreground to balance with the sky exposure!

Quartz Halogen for the main light is preferred over LED's for two reasons: 1. Since many nightscape shooters photograph the starry night sky with a White Balance of 3000º Kelvin to 3500º Kelvin, the halogen lights are already at a similar color balance, and the more you dim these lights, the warmer they go —adding a pleasant contrast to the cool night sky. 2. Halogens can more easily be focused and controlled than LED's. Using the 11-inch Long Throw Silver Reflector allows me to set my main light at greater distances (with less light loss), thus reducing the light fall-off from one side of the picture frame to the other.

Large and Super-size Landscapes: The above unit can easily light most large landscape foregrounds with just the use of the modeling light. For super-size landscapes, the powerful studio flash can be employed; albeit, with the strobe, one no longer has the advantage of a constant light source.

Accent and Fill Lighting: To soften (fill) shadows cast by the main light, I often place omni-directional LED lights, such as lanterns, near the camera position, or opposite the main light. Miniature LED lanterns can also be used as accent lights, such as those hidden among the rocks in the top photo. In most cases, the LED lanterns must be gelled or filtered with yellow, orange or red filters in order to reduce their 8000º - 10000º Kelvin "bluish" output to a much warmer offering. The big advantage of LED technology is their low power consumption. Most will operate at full power for six or more hours on alkaline batteries.

The GE Chromalit 3D Super Bright White LED Technology lanterns have a low, medium and high
setting (260 lumens), with a built-in yellow filter, so it's warmer (about 4000º K) than most LEDs.
Even so, I often need to gel it with warming filters. Four alkaline D batteries will power
this lantern up to 50 hours! Available at Costco, Amazon and eBay for $20 to $30.

These mini LED lanterns by Life Gear are an in house brand of Walmart, and usually cost only $5.00
each. They produce 25 lumens of bluish-white light that typically must be gelled for best white balance.
However, their most common use for me is in their red LED mode, as an accent light (no need to filter).
In many cases I need even less red light, so I set them to flashing mode, where their rapid intermittent
red glow yields about 50% less light during a time exposure. Powered by 3 AAA alkaline batteries.

Warming Gels / Filters for LED Lights: The filters I use over the GE Chromalit lantern are cut from a single, 20" x 24" sheet of Rosco Roscolux #13 Straw Tint. You can buy the Rosco (or Lee brand) sheets through most local theatrical supply stores. A deeper orange color is needed to warm the cooler mini lanterns from Lite Gear, or you can just add another layer of the Straw Tint. A Roscolux Swatchbook can help you choose the colors you want to use for your next lighting project.

Super Portable Key Light: In a future post, I'll show you an LED panel light (for under $100) that can be used as a main light for many medium-sized landscape foregrounds.

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com

Time lapse in the Alabama Hills

Milky Way over Alabama Hills pinnacles ~ © J. Michael Darter (click to see video)

Mike Darter's Time Lapse: Last week, Mike Darter and six other photographers participated in a NightScape workshop I conducted in the Alabama Hills, located near the Eastern Sierras of California. Most of us just did still photography, but Mike also shot evening time lapse with his Canon EOS 6D and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens. Mike added motion control to the above scene and a time lapse he did of Cyclops Arch, using his SYRP Genie. In the above scene, Mike attached his camera to the SYRP Genie and had it pan at about the same speed as the Milky Way moves across the sky.

Milk Way over Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills ~ © J. Michael Darter (click to see same video)

In the time lapse segment of Mobius Arch, Mike used no motion control —letting the moving clouds in this scene add their own drama.

Mike with his oldest daughter

J. Mike Darter worked in law enforcement from 1991 to 2002 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas.  He is a co-founder and currently CEO of CCW Safe, LLC based out of Oklahoma City.  Mike has been involved in art since a young age, showing watercolor and mixed media from the age 13.  He was accepted to Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, NY in 1987, but chose instead to attend the University of Oklahoma to study Criminal Justice.  He continued painting through college, and well into his law enforcement career, but became interested in photography around 2000.  He attends wildlife and nature photography workshops whenever he can, and is currently showing at a Cherokee Art Gallery in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and will be showing at a private show in downtown Oklahoma City in December.  Mike would like to get some images licensed with some of the nature media outlets, but more importantly, introduce his daughters to photography and be able to spend some quality time on the side of a mountain with them in the future watching a sunrise. The above photo is one of Mike's favorites.  It is of his oldest daughter photographing the sunrise, at Myrtle Beach, this past summer.

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com

Twilight Road Thru the Alabama Hills by Miles Morgan

"The Polarizer" ~ © Miles Morgan
(click to enlarge - then click large image again, to view on black)

Miles Morgan photographed this scene with a Nikon D800E, using a 35mm focal length lens. Exposure was 60 seconds @ f/13, ISO 100 (the moon was a separate exposure with a 70mm lens —but it was in that position over the Sierras). Miles Morgan is an airline pilot out of Portland, Oregon who doubles as an amateur fine art landscape photographer. More of Miles' work can be seen on his 500px page and his website.

I'll let Miles tell the rest of the story in his own words:

Ask around. I'm Mr. Clear Skies lately. I have more sucking removal power than a Hoover vacuum. This makes me grumpy, so it is no small feat that buddies David "Breezy" Thompson and Paul Rojas have been able to put up with me for several photo trips these past few months. We finally did manage a few clouds, but we spent many days trying to come up with shots that would work in the clear blue, and with the full moon hanging around, even night images were proving to be taxing.

I bombed down from Washington to the Mono Lake the first day, and arrived in time for a... you guessed it.... clear sunset. With the full moon rising, however, I figured that I might be able to sneak out some sort of image. I hustled down to the lakeshore and came to a screeching halt. There must have been 100 photographers scrambling around, over, and through the tufas. My camera stayed in the bag.

The Econo Lodge in Mammoth Lakes seemed like a logical place to crash out for a few hours before sunrise, but around 3am I decided that I simply wasn't going to be able to rest, so I might as well head out and find something to shoot. I popped out into the bitter night air, and turned behind a Suburban to head towards my rig only to discover some families tailgate wide open, and trash strewn all over the parking lot. I now found myself face to face with a bear twice my size, who was getting intimate with a Twinkie. I couldn't think of much to do, so I said "Hello". Luckily, I've lost a few pounds recently, so the Twinkie looked a little creamier, I guess, because he went back to eating and ignored me completely. I continued down the lot to my car, and drove off as if nothing could be more normal.

Arriving at Alabama Hills the next day, I finally had enough time to scout out some compositions that might work while I waited for "the boyz" to arrive. With the Photographers Ephemeris, I knew where the moon would set, and that it would be hanging over the mountains in the blue hour before dawn, so I set about finding a composition that might work for the expected conditions the next morning. You guessed it.... clear. Dawn came, and the three of us hustled out to some spots we had found the evening before to shoot. Nothing was working so I came back to this area that I had considered the day before, and set to work. Getting the exposure right, jumping in Rico, my trusty steed, and driving back and forth trying to make this work before the moon disappeared behind the hills was a right challenge in the nippy morning air, but it finally came together. Only it didn't. The moon looked too small, and to expose for the land areas correctly required the moon to be blown totally. I opted to simply zoom in, fire off a shot at 70mm and exposed for the moon itself in order to present it as it appeared to my eyes. A purist, I ain't.

So the title. No I didn't use a polarizer. It's in response to the reaction that I received regarding this image from my critique group, which consists of several photographers who are WAY better than me, and who do me the solid of giving me their honest impression of what works, what doesn't, and what I can do to improve it. This shot simply didn't work for many of those folks. Ironically, it ended up being my favorite from the trip, proving once again I have questionable taste at best. I love that paradox about photography.

Editor's Note: Here's another great Alabama Hills nightscape by Miles. Unlike the "zoo" of photographers that can form around the Mono Lake area, the Alabama Hills continues to be much less crowded, yet it offers amazing photographic opportunities and clear, dark nights for some of the best astro-landscape photography in the world. I will be conducting a NightScape Workshop in the Alabama Hills, April 22-25, 2014.

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Mobius Arch NightScape

A light painted Mobius Arch with the Milky Way over the Eastern Sierra Mountains ~ © Royce Bair

I just returned from a four-day scouting trip in the Alabama Hills of Eastern California, where I will be conducting a NightScape Workshop, April 22-25, 2014. Photographing the Eastern Sierras has always been a dream of mine, ever since I first saw Ansel Adams' iconic "Winter Sunrise" photo of these mountains taken from the Lone Pine area.

Technique: The above NightScape is a single exposure (20 seconds), taken with a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens @ f/2.8 on a Canon 5D Mark III camera. The arch was lighted with two stationary battery-powered lights behind (with a yellow/orange filter) and inside (with a red filter) the arch, and one moving spotlight from the front, right side. Camera white balance is set at 4000ºK, and all lights are balanced to 3200ºK before adding any filtration. ISO was 6400.

Although the winter Milky Way is not as bright and dramatic as the summer Milky Way, it does provide better alignment with the arch and the Sierras.

"First Light" - a telephoto view of Mt. Whitney from the Alabama Hills area ~ © Royce Bair

The Alabama Hills area offers a wide variety of opportunities for both night and daytime landscape photography. This semi-arid region on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range is free from light pollution and boasts clean, crisp air for amazingly clear photography. The rounded features of the Alabama Hills provide a unique contrast to the jagged Sierra Nevada backdrop.

The rugged peaks of the Eastern Sierras viewed through Mobius Arch (24mm lens) ~ © Royce Bair

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Venus Rises Over Alabama Hills by Miles Morgan

"Vesuvian Bromance" - Venus Rising over Alabama Hills ~ © Miles Morgan (click to enlarge)

Our Photo of the Week was taken by Miles Morgan on a cold October morning with his friend Ryan Dyar, who had pre-scouted these unique hills near the Eastern Sierras of California. Miles used a Nikon D800E with a Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm. Exposure was 20 seconds @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Miles Morgan is an airline pilot out of Portland, Oregon who doubles as an amateur fine art landscape photographer. More of Miles' work can be seen on his 500px page and his website.

< Click to expand portrait, and learn more about Miles.

POTW: "The Coyote Calls" by Ted Gore

"The Coyote Calls" - Alabama Hills, California Eastern Sierra ~ © Ted Gore (click for a larger view)

"I was shooting this and heard... THIS!" says Ted. "...Scared the bajeezus outta me!

Our Photo of the Week (POTW) was taken by Ted Gore in the Alabama Hills of California's Eastern Sierra. This was taken just around 4:00 AM to catch the rising of the Milky Way just above the rocky mounds. It's this time of year when one can catch the summer constellations low on the horizon, in the early morning. Ted had also planned to be able to catch the rising moon as well. The sunrise came from the same direction, about an hour after that.

"It was quite the party!" says Ted. If you look closely, the moon is actually a crescent moon, but in clear, less light polluted skies, the dark side reflects it's share of light as well. A little bit of glow on the horizon is a combination of the town of Lone Pine, the moon and the soon to rise sun.

Ted photographed this with a Nikon D600 and a 17mm lens. He took three shots, which were blended together in post: one for sky @ ISO 5000, f/2.8, 20 seconds; a second, longer exposure for the foreground; and a third, shorter exposure for the moon, so it wasn't a bright blobby mess.

Ted Gore lives and works in Los Angeles, California as a motion graphic designer, which pays his bills and funds his passion of landscape photography. He takes a slight artistic and fanciful approach to his images, as he likes to present the image in a way that evokes the grandeur and beauty of the moment. More of Ted's work can be seen at his 500px and Facebook pages.

Advertisement: Hot Weekly Photography Deals - Amazing discounts (updated twice a week).