Enter our light trail shooting challenge and
be in with a chance of winning a Lowepro rucksack worth $225...
As we move into winter and the daylight
hours get shorter and shorter, why not take advantage of the dark skies, head
out with your camera and try capturing light trails. It's pretty easy - just
mount your camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed to record moving
lights as streaks of colour.
Big
wheels at the fairground make excellent subject matter for this type of
photography, as Nicolas Orillard demonstrates with this shot.
This month we want you to experiment with
the theme of the challenge, and there are many alternative locations to try and
approaches to take. The city environment offers plenty of shooting
opportunities at night, as the streetlights switch on and passing cars show
their headlights and brake lights. If you prefer a rural setting, you could
capturing star trails across the night sky, as the earth rotates.
Always pack a tripod to keep your camera
steady throughout long exposures. You may want to use a remote control to fire
the shutter and use the Mirror Lock-up function to prevent internal vibrations
from ruining your shots.
Get
started today...
Think about what approach you want to take
and find a suitable location. If necessary, scout out locations in daylight,
then return after dark.
It's worth putting a torch in your kit bag,
so you can see your camera and adjust settings in the dark - especially if
you're in a rural location.
Set your SLR to Manual and the shutter
speed to two seconds. You can alter the exposure time depending on what you're
shooting.
Win a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW
Each month we're giving away this excellent
Lowepro camera backpack worth up to £150 to the lucky winner of our Your
Mission photo challenge. For your chance to win one, simply upload your image
to our website, www.digitalcameraworld.com (see below for full details of how
to enter).
For over 40 years Lowepro has been
travelling the world on the shoulders of the best photographers - learning and
innovation are the key to its success.
The Flipside 400 AW is a high-performance
backpack with a unique rear-access compartment and padded waist belt,
specifically designed for the wearer to be able to access gear while still
wearing the bag. It also includes the patented All WeatherTM cover, adjustable
dividers and Hideaway Tripod MountTM system.
How to enter: Upload your entry to the This
Month's Mission' gallery in the Forum on our website
(www.digitalcameraworld.com/forum/gallery). Just click on 'This Month's Mission
- Light Trails', hit Upload and add your image/s. The three best shots will be
selected on 7 December 2012 and printed in issue 134, which goes on sale on 4
January 2013.
Photographer Nicolas Orillard gives his
three top shooting tips for capturing perfect light trails. "Use a
tripod!" he says. "Without one, you can forget about shooting light
trails, because your image will be blurry. Next, use a small aperture such as
f/16, as this will give you a greater depth of field, which in turn will help
you to control the length of your shutter speed.
"Search for light sources, such as car
head- and tail-lights, plane lights or stars. And don't forget that you can
create your own light trails using just a hand torch."
Shoot
the light fantastic and enter our photo challenge:
1. An urban setting provides ample opportunities for this month's
reader challenge. You can simply set up your tripod next to a road (do take
care in the dark though) and use car head- and tail-lights to create some
eye-catching light trails.
An
urban setting provides ample opportunities for this month's reader challenge.
- You can also
capture really effective light trail shots if you shoot from a high
vantage point.
Photographer Christian Lim took this spectacular night-time shot of
Manila, capital of the Philippines, from the top of a building.
You
can also capture really effective light trail shots if you shoot from a high
vantage point.
3. Attach a torch to the end of a piece of string and swing it around
in front of your camera during a long exposure to create light trails. Having
an assistant to help you means you can stay behind the camera while they do the
swinging!
Attach
a torch to the end of a piece of string and swing it around in front of your
camera during a long exposure to create light trails.
4. There's a time just before the dark sets in when the sky has a
bluish tint. "At this time of day, you should use your lens hood,"
advises Christian Lim. "It helps to block out unwanted light that will
otherwise mess with your exposure."
There's
a time just before the dark sets in when the sky has a bluish tint.
