Capturing Flashing Lights

[Fiendish Astronaut]

Okay, this is a bit of an abstract question and the answer may I suspect be a compromise... I'm looking out of my window at a construction site and there's a sea of flashing yellow lights on top of the trucks. It looks pretty cool - but any idea how can I give a sense of this flashiness and movement in a still image?

 

[RMThompson]

Try at night, with a slower shutter speed.

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

Hmm, possibly. Thanks - I'll give it a go but I'm wondering if that would just make it look as though the lights were all on full, rather than flashing. I'll have to experiment....

 

[RyanLilly]

I think the key is to have a shutter speed that will capture a little of the light movement but not long enough for the flashers to complete a whole cycle of flashes. I think that if they are the older rotating mirror lights the "motion" will be nicely apparent, but newer LED lights could be more difficult to capture because they cycle so quickly. Try several different shutter speeds and see what turns out. Have fun.
-Ryan