| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Night Photography 101: Planning a shooting schedule; on location This is Night Photography 101: 3rd Installment: Planning A Shooting Schedule And On Location . . Next earlier lesson: Night Photography 101 . 2nd Installment: Night Photography 101 . . . If It's In Your Bag . . . Know What It Is By John E. Moss Jamestown, KY It is hard to think of everything and plan accordingly. This has been proven to me with the utmost clarity many, many times over many, many years. I recently did an early morning shoot on US 127 at the outer reaches of Jamestown's city limits. Due to the nature of the location, I would be shooting across the highway at a small church that had an unusual background. It could be a good shot and in the early morning darkness everything seemed to be going as I had planned. And I was confident I had carefully planned. There seemed to be no menacing, sharp toothed critters in sight . . . I had found a parking spot that required what I normally avoid, a short hike down the road, but for the moment that was alright. Dark as it was there seemed to be no menacing, sharp toothed critters in sight, or sound, and that was a good sign. Selecting the camera lens in advance had saved me a moment or two, and with tripod in hand I softly whistled as I walked to the front of the church. Harmony with nature and mankind was close at hand. Setting up and sighting through the viewfinder, I knew I had chosen the lens incorrectly. I don't always guess right though this fact is often lost during the 'considering' stage of planning. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem except the camera bag full of essential goodies was in the front seat of the car. It could now be classified as way back yonder in the car. In an effort to cut down carrying weight, I had forgotten rule one; carry your camera bag with you. It is very simple and you should think of it often. You can't use it if you don't have it on you. Yes, very simple. Now, the short hike lengthened to walking the distance four times. Maybe on the way back from the car to the church again, the spontaneous whistle I earlier enjoyed began showing a noticeable amount of stress. This procedure of protecting your shot also applies to drunken women . . . Setup once again, I proceeded with the program a little winded and aggravated. More than a few times during the long exposure a car or large vehicle would come down the highway. Car or truck headlights early in the morning can be a serious problem, but with long exposure night shots you simply place your hand over the lens, let the offender go by and, then resume your counting. It is as simple as that. No fancy trick or technical slight-of-hand. This is one of the reasons photograph exposure stats recorded by the camera can be deceiving. This procedure of protecting your shot also applies to drunken women that want to walk back and forth in front of the camera while laughing with great abandon. For the record, the finished church photograph's stats showed an exposure time of 4 minutes 37 seconds. A lot of early shift factory traffic went by but the actual exposure time was far less. It wasn't until post production of the print that I found that I had violated rule two; avoid doing something really stupid again. The exposure of the church was very good, and I was quite pleased with the shot, or frame until I noticed in the front door glass a blurred figure standing there wearing a white hat, white shirt and white pants. It took thirty minutes to Photoshop myself out of the photograph. A word to the wise; dress accordingly and be prepared for surprises . . . and pay attention to rule two. With very little practice you start seeing in frames . . . I am constantly planning my shooting schedule. In my normal daily travels, I catalog locations and structures along with lighting conditions that I want to address with proper attention. I know for each location what type of shot it will be, day or night, and the demands each should receive. With very little practice you will start seeing in frames with notations of light, shadow, lenses, and other subtle details. Without effort you will slip into the considering stage, but . . . I also write everything down because if I don't I will forget. The new camera telephones also are helpful with photographic notations if you remember to check the camera roll. Believe me, if you trust only your memory, sooner rather than later, you will be burned like ignored frying bacon. And that's not good for a night photographer. During the considering stage for the next early morning shoot, locations are finalized, additional equipment demands are noted, open early morning diners are cataloged and the alarm clock is set. Don't forget to set the alarm clock. And as a final precaution, a yellow sticky note is usually stuck to the front door frame reminding me not to violate rule two; avoid doing something really stupid again. Let me say again, DON'T FREELANCE! Stay with the shooting schedule. For a planned night or early morning shoot, I have found that three relatively close locations are about the limit I can squeeze into an early morning. And, I stay with the shooting schedule. The window of opportunity is small so ambitious designs can be self-defeating. Don't deviate. If a location washes out because of clouds blocking the moon, a light source not being turned on that should be, people wandering, or staggering around, or simply it starts raining, don't freelance. Let me say again, DON'T FREELANCE! Stay with the shooting schedule.Go on to the next location or even the next. At 3:30 or 4:00 am you don't want to get adventurous by driving willy-nilly all over town, or up and down back country roads looking into the darkness for something to photograph. Adventurous freelancing draws attention. And, law enforcement officials get curious when presented with late night or early morning adventurous freelancing. Rule three would be; nothing good can come from adventurous attention. Remember, you are never completely alone, especially in town. Violate rule number two and you will find out. I once drove up to a second location that was going to be a great night shot only to realize it wasn't lit up at night. The city was cost cutting. Even an almost full moon didn't help the situation when combined with a moderate cloud cover. You have to have a little light to pull out an image from the darkness within a reasonable amount of time. Photographs requiring over a three minute exposure time are not good. Unless you are out in the boonies, keep your exposure times down to three minutes or less. It is a rule of thumb that will treat you well. I am not even reasonably fast anymore having crossed over from being a great hunter of the day and night to prey. Besides having a little light to draw a picture from there is also the factor of being able to see small or large sharp toothed critters coming toward you from a distance. At my age, I need a head start. I am not even reasonably fast anymore having crossed over from being a great hunter of the day and night to prey. I was certainly disappointed with the second location that showed so much promise, but wrote it down for a possible daylight shot. It turned out to be one of the best. Moments later, a very early morning breakfast buffet made the morning excursion worthwhile. While I was sitting there looking out the window, it started to rain. During the considering and planning stage add and make note to carry emergency clothing, water and munchies. And in my case, an emergency leather waist belt. Remember, very little is open at three-thirty or four-thirty in the morning. A small first aid kit could prove valuable depending on your age and agility factor. This is especially a true consideration if you are as clumsy as I am. There are a lot of things out there with sharp edges, stickers, stingers, nasty biting teeth and bad attitudes. By the time I had gotten the frame I wanted, my feet and hands were frozen. On one location night shoot I needed and had planned for one photograph that would finish a book of my own. Unfortunately, the wind was so fierce that I had to put on several additional coats in order to survive the counting off of the frame. Of course, this had to be a difficult shoot with a building light blowing out the frame. The small differences in timing the frame extended the shoot and increased my misery. By the time I had gotten the frame I wanted, my feet and hands were frozen. Without the additional clothing, I would have never have gotten close to getting the photograph. Night Photography can be an adventurous endeavour. You will encounter people out and about that want to follow you around and ask six thousand questions and want to touch everything. I have seriously considered carrying a dozen donuts with me to hand out to the curious insomniacs that roam the night. I have also considered carrying a package of bologna to throw at heaven knows what that growls menacingly in the dark, but you never see them. Then the morning sunrise becomes a problem because you are behind schedule from circumstance or just being tuckered plain out. In reality, you want your planned location shoot to be much like a long, boring drawn out car trip; uneventful. On schedule and uneventful is good especially if you get a few really good frames that make you want to shout, dance in small circles and smile all day long. Next Time: Night Photography 101 . . . Techniques . . . Camera Settings And Stuff . . . Installments so far:  Welfare Baptist Church, Jamestown, KY, at night This story was posted on 2010-03-12 04:28:49
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic News:
(ADV) Time to schedule your lawn service with Matt Caldwell CU students spending spring break serving others on mission trips Kentucky Horse Park Equine Adoption Fair returns Obituary: Alma Strange, 89, Adair Co., KY Jane Lampton Chapter of DAR meets Sat., March 13, 2010 Billy Joe Fudge poses tough linguistic puzzler Adair Wildlife Society will meet at Extension office, Mon. March 15, 2010 Downey Woodpecker story reminds her of her grandfather CU has 20th consecutive semester of record enrollment Metcalfe 5th StormReady(R) county in 7-county CM area View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
