How to achieve this in night photography?

[batmura]

Can anyone tell me how night photographers manage to "paint" the insides of abandoned buildings or cars a distinct red or blue colour? I have read that one would have to "pop in red-gelled strobes" in them, but a google search didn't help. What are these strobes and where can I get them? Can they be used over and over or just once? Also, how is it possible that the light won't leak and stray out of the building, car, etc?

Here are some images that explain my point:

The Aircraft Boneyard: Where Aircraft Go To Die

Any detailed advice and help would be appreciated.

 

[SCraig]

They are simply off-camera flashes with a colored gel over the head that are triggered by hand.

 

[Aloicious]

gels are colored "filters", so to speak, for strobes that change the color of the light, some are available for speedlights too. so you basically just use the flash as you normally would to light it (which requires understanding how to use off camera, manual flash settings and general lighting techniques), but use a gel to color the light whatever color you wish...in your examples, its a red gel.

 

[C4n0n.Fan]

Think of the gels as pieces of red cellophane paper that cover your flash.
The light "leaking" isn't an issue here as the light "falls off" past the structure. Meaning it illuminates less and less the further it goes past the structure. Say if the light is 10 metres away from the structure then 10 metres behind the structure the light will be at a quarter of the "strength" or "intensity". This is called the inverse - square law.

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[batmura]

They are simply off-camera flashes with a colored gel over the head that are triggered by hand.

Scott, so gels are flashes basically? When I read the photographers had "popped" them in, I had somehow imagined something elee. If I got it right, they just used off-camera flash covered by red or blue colour? Is that right, sir? Which flash of this sort would be a good choice?

 

[batmura]

gels are colored "filters", so to speak, for strobes that change the color of the light, some are available for speedlights too. so you basically just use the flash as you normally would to light it (which requires understanding how to use off camera, manual flash settings and general lighting techniques), but use a gel to color the light whatever color you wish...in your examples, its a red gel.

Can I also simply use a small fenix light covering it with red or blue? How would I paint the inside of the building so "evenly"?

 

[Aloicious]

yeah, you could, really any light source could be used realistically, but depending on the subject, it may be more difficult since flashlights typically have narrow light beams (and may have odd light temps too that can affect the light coloring), you could probably rig up some kind of diffuser or other modifier to spread the light out.

for example, this shot I took at arches, the arch is painted by someone's LED head lamp flashlight:

 

[SCraig]

They are simply off-camera flashes with a colored gel over the head that are triggered by hand.

Scott, so gels are flashes basically? When I read the photographers had "popped" them in, I had somehow imagined something elee. If I got it right, they just used off-camera flash covered by red or blue colour? Is that right, sir? Which flash of this sort would be a good choice?

That is correct. All speedlights have a "Test" button on them that allows them to be triggered by pressing it. Just put a piece of colored cellophane over the head of the flash, open the shutter on the camera, and walk around popping the flash off. Don't stop walking though! As long as you are moving and your camera is set for a long exposure then it won't pick you up, but if you stop there might be a "Ghost" of you in the shot. It's called "Light Painting" and it is fun.

Alocious I've seen that shot before and I still think it's great. Arches is a gorgeous place in the daytime and I can only imagine what it looks like at night.

 

[batmura]

Scott can this be done with a torch as well or is a flash a must? If the latter, which inexpensive flash would you recommend? You said I would have to walk around and paint. Can't I just cover the device in red, place it in the middle of the car, and turn it on for about a minute?

 

[Aloicious]

light painting is fun, you can also take multiple exposures with different areas 'light painted' and combine them in post and remove any ghosts like Scott mentioned, this is a common method with night/dusk architectural photography

 

[KmH]

Gels are colored pieces of clear plastic placed in front of a light.

A better alternative to hand activating a flash unit on a long exposure is to trigger it with a radio or optical signal synced to the camera's rear/second shutter curtain.

If the exposure is long enough, light painting can be done with a gel on a flashlight.

Polaroid Universal Gel Soft Box Diffuser (Includes Blue, Red, Green, Amber, Yellow & Pink Gels) For Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Sigma, & Other External Flash Units

 

[SCraig]

Scott can this be done with a torch as well or is a flash a must? If the latter, which inexpensive flash would you recommend? You said I would have to walk around and paint. Can't I just cover the device in red, place it in the middle of the car, and turn it on for about a minute?

It can be done with virtually any light source. Lots of people use torches (flashlights in the USA) and it works fine. It's one of the techniques that you have to play with to find what works well for you so just experiment. Nothing to lose except some time.