Light painted bike

[fokker]

Did this one last night in my garage. It's my downhill mountain bike toy, and yeah it's old and beat up looking but that just adds character right?

Settings: ISO 100, f/16, approx 1 minute exposure. Light painted using a LED headlamp with a carboard tube over it to act as a snoot to control the light. Samll bit of PP in CS3 (saturation and levels layers, contrast, sharpening, crop, border).

Let me know what you think - I really like how it came out!

 

[chennaiguy]

Amazing effect.... but the clutter in the background shows through... maybe you could cover it up with a black sheet...

 

[fokker]

Yes, the clutter... Originally I had intended it be a 'garage' scen with dimly lit clutter and workbench etc in the background, but playing around in photoshop I liked it better with a lot of the stuff masked out. I might try re-shooting at the other end of my garage with less clutter aside from some bike-related bits like spare tyres hanging up etc. I guess I don't want it to be a clean, 'bike only' type of shot. I like the effect that the light spill onto the dirty concrete floor gives.

 

[vansnxtweek]

This turned out great I think. Yes the clutter is noticeable but as far as the picture itself I think its awesome. Now let me use this as an opportunity to learn. How come you used such a small aperture with a long exposure instead of maybe f/8 with a much less shutter speed?

 

[EileenHui]

Wow,, very nice effect!

 

[fokker]

This turned out great I think. Yes the clutter is noticeable but as far as the picture itself I think its awesome. Now let me use this as an opportunity to learn. How come you used such a small aperture with a long exposure instead of maybe f/8 with a much less shutter speed?

A longer exposure with less 'sensitivity' to the light (from a narrower aperture) lets me 'paint' the bike more evenly and avoids hotspots and missing areas out altogether. Plus it means I can take my time. In theory I could have left the shutter open for an hour and gone and watched TV and it wouldn't have made a difference to the shot, as there was no other light on the scene aside from the LED light I was using.

 

[AlexL]

nice bike! I like it

 

[LaFoto]

What an interesting effect you got. Looks like the sun shone on your bike through nothing but holes in some wall or a low ceiling. I like this a lot.

 

[fokker]

Thank you!

 

[MohaimenK]

hey do you mind posting the original? Just to see how that came out from the shot w/out any PP. Thanks!

 

[fokker]

Yeah I can do but not for a few hours until after I get home from work. The original is pretty much the same looking as this but with more clutter showing around the edges and a few colour/contrast adjustments.

 

[MohaimenK]

well IMO it looks good. If you do post the pics later would be nice but not a big thing. But regardless, it's really great!

 

[Lazy Photographer]

Totally cool in my eyes. I'm desperate to get into off camera lighting to create effects like this. Very nice indeed.

 

[fokker]

Totally cool in my eyes. I'm desperate to get into off camera lighting to create effects like this. Very nice indeed.

You don't need anything fancy to try it, just a torch and a tripod

 

[Skyclad]

You don't need anything fancy to try it, just a torch and a tripod

This should be an easy thing for me as I got bit by the LED flashlight bug several years ago and have several good flashlights (not your typical walmart ones, but $50+ ones). Though just because I have a few good flashlights doesn't mean I know how to use them for photography. I just know how to light something up real well, lol