I’ve added two portfolios of newer images - although I keep up with my flickr site I have tended to get behind when updating the home page galleries. If you’re a flickr user you may have seen some of the images - about half have not been posted before.
In the future, portfolios that are bumped off the home page will still be available in the archive.
Just a reminder that the registration deadline for the Seattle night photography workshop is coming up in a couple weeks - if you’re interested, don’t forget to sign up!
Here’s the official description of the workshop:
Night Photography is about the compression of time into a single moment, as represented by the image captured by the camera- be it a minute, or an hour. The camera records the passage of time in a way that we cannot ourselves perceive.
Venture out under the light of the full moon to see, and photograph the world from a new perspective. New technologies in photography have made Night Photography more accessible and popular than ever. Digital cameras allow for instant feedback that can serve as a guide for determining exposures, but there is more to successful night photography than just exposure. Lighting, contrast, atmosphere, equipment choices, and subject matter at night are some of the things this workshop will cover. We will explore the world of Night Photography, its history, and current masters of the form. Using both film and digital cameras, we will work with the light of the moon and with artificial light sources. During the workshop, participants will create a body of nocturnal images in a variety of locations.
Students will learn how to work with existing light as well as how to effectively use light painting techniques to enhance their night time photography. From relatively short exposures by streetlight, to full moon exposures of an hour or more, we will explore the range of possibilities of Night Photography.
You can find more information about Lance Keimig here and if you’ve made it this far you know where to find me! Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’ve got any questions.
Seattle, Lake Union Fireworks, July 4, 2007
The Lighten blend mode in Photoshop is quite useful for night photography. By definition, the lighten blend mode looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the result color. Pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change.
This behavior allows the photographer to take multiple exposures of a subject and combine them without creating a blown out mess. One of the most common uses is blending multiple star trail exposures together so simulate a longer exposure in the sky but maintaining the correct exposure in the foreground.
Another example is combining multiple fireworks images in to one. The image above was made by combining six similarly exposed images using the Lighten blend mode. Each additional image layered on top using the Lighten blend mode effectively added the fireworks burst from the new layer but left everything else alone. The end result is a much greater concentration of fireworks bursts and properly exposed surroundings.
I got back from Hawaii this morning, way too early this morning, but since I told myself I would try to update this blog more frequently, here is the moon masquerading as a coconut.
