If you haven’t heard about it yet, I recently started a new project – 24inTX! I’m spending 24 hours in various Texas cities, towns and state parks and reporting back to you about what I did, what I ate and where I stayed.
The new blog – 24inTX.com – will launch Wed. with my first post from Caddo Lake in east Texas. As you can imagine, most of the posts will be photo-centric, but I don’t want to go on an on about photo techniques and photo geek stuff on the travel blog. I’d much rather do that stuff here!
Lucky you! You get a sneak peak of some of my best travel photos before they’re published on 24inTX! (Just promise you’ll act surprised when you see them on the other site.)
While out on the road I’ve thought about how to present the places I go in a different way. Words came to mind from the great photographer Dave Black – “If you want to make an image interesting, only light part of it.”
Okay Dave, let’s see what we can do here. I have a camera, a tripod, a locking shutter on a sync cord, a speedlight and what else? ….a Maglite!
While at X Bar Ranch near Sonora, TX, I looked up at the night sky and saw beautiful, bright stars. I got my D700, my 24-70mm f2.8 lens and a tripod and set the shutter to “bulb.” That allows me to manually control how long the shutter is open. Using my locking shutter on a sync cord, I made a few images. Both were around 20 min. (or so) exposures on ISO 200, f4. The first was just a straight night shot. During the second shot I shined my Maglite (LED) on a tree for a few seconds.
Both are cool shots of the stars moving in a circular motion around Polaris, but I think the second shot adds a little touch more interest.
Near Balmorhea, TX, there’s a little church out in the middle of nowhere. It’s called Calera Chapel or Mission Mary and it was built some time before 1902. I’ll tell you more when I post about Balmorhea on 24inTX, but it was a great place to photograph.
I went out there at sunset and silhouetted the chapel against the colorful sky, which made for a nice picture…
But then I got out the same setup as I mentioned before and used my Maglite to “paint” the building with light.
The trick on this shot was to make sure the light was even. Maglites, or any flashlights give off narrow beams of light and you have to be methodical about how you much time you spend lighting each area.
That was particularly evident when I lit the inside of the chapel. I placed the camera on a low-set tripod in the doorway, shined the Maglite on the cross at the alter for a few seconds, then ran to one side window, shined the light on the wooden pews and beams in the ceiling, then ran to the opposite side window and did the same.
When I was at Caddo Lake (look for the post on 24inTX this Wed.), the swamp landscaped screamed, “light paint me!!!” I was happy to oblige.
This time, though, I didn’t have my locking shutter on a sync cord, so I was limited to 30 sec. shutter speeds. At Caddo Lake State Park there’s a T-shaped board walk, which was perfect for light painting. A good tip is to place the camera where you’d like, then light the subject from a different angle. It will keep the lighting from looking flat, sort of the same concept as studio lighting.
Here are a few of my favorite light painting images from Caddo Lake. (The top image was also from Caddo Lake.)
I have much more to tell you about these fantastic places! Please go check out 24inTX.com and follow me as I roam the state!
Click here to follow 24inTX on Facebook!
Click here to view my post on Caddo Lake. (coming Wed.)
Please stay tuned for posts on X Bar Ranch (Sonora, TX) and Balmorhea!
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