Rodney Campbell's Blog

Joined some old friends and some new for a light painting extravaganza at Middle Head Fortifications which is at the end of Old Fort Road in Mosman on Sydney Harbour.

The seven of us had brought all manner of light creating implements and gadgets (including various dome and orb painting devices of various sizes, EL wires, cold cathodes, LED’s, flashes, lazers, lanterns, steel wool and so on) for what proved to be a very enjoyable evening which began around 4:30PM and ended around 10:30PM.

We arrived before sunset hoping for some nice light cloud action and good colour in the sky to take some outdoor images of the fortifications – alas we were not really rewarded.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Here’s one I took whilst doing an bit of reconnaissance before sunset – saw some lovely god rays looking back towards Balmoral

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 110 mm, 1/200 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200

Once the sun had set and darkness was setting in we began our experiments with light in earnest. All the images which follow are single exposures so some planning has to go in beforehand to decide what gets painted where with what implements, and just as important as working out where to put light is where not to light 🙂

Even though there were a number of us shooting essentially the same scene I’ll be very interested to see the different interpretations of the same “shot” as we were all shooting with with various focal lengths from very wide (8 to 12mm) to wide (16 to 24mm) to short tele (50 to 100mm) at different times and from different heights angles and locations.

Light Painting Stravaganza @ Middle Head Fort – Part I – Battery powered light…

The following I call Burning Man – this is a 205 second exposure (12mm @ f/5.6 @ ISO 200) and consisted of:
– green gelled torch into the rooms on the left
– red cold cathode to light the walls
– blue EL wire dragged and flicked low to the ground and then up and around our excellent gun toting model to create the blue fire effect
– a burst of full power flash (SB-900) zoomed to 200mm and with a snoot to focus the beam directly into the back of the model to silhouette him

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 12 mm, 205 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Electrified – 94 second exposure (12mm @ f/5.6 @ ISO 200) – similar setup as above except using green EL wire to create the “electric” current

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 12 mm, 94 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Teleport – 240 second exposure (16mm @ f/8 @ ISO 100) and consisted of:
– green dome generator on a long stick 🙂
– red cold cathode to light the walls
– orange and yellow EL wire to create the fire around the platform
– blue EL wire dragged and flicked low to the ground
– a burst of full power flash (SB-900) zoomed out to 12mm with a dome diffuser on front fired directly into the back of the model very close to his back to silhouette him and provide the rim light

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 16 mm, 240 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Left Hanging on the Line – 186 second exposure (12mm @ f/8 @ ISO 100) – again blue EL wire and red cold cathode

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 12 mm, 186 sec at f/8, ISO 100

We had dinner at a friends house recently and as is my want I took my camera and just the 50mm. Their backyard faces due west and they have what amounts to a large wall of glass windows facing west off their living room. As the sun was dipping to the horizon the room was bathed in a flood of orange golden light that just made everything glow. My daughters were playing a game of noughts and crosses so I reeled off a few candid captures – thoughts appreciated…

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

NIKON D7000 + 50.0 mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm, 1/100 sec at f/2, ISO 110

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NIKON D7000 + 50.0 mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm, 1/100 sec at f/2.5, ISO 100

After our less than stellar morning of photography at Coledale as we were heading back to Sydney we stopped at Stanwell Tops to watch the Hang Gliders and Paragliders in action and I’m sure in the back of our minds thinking perhaps we could pull something out of the hat to salvage something (photographically speaking)…

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

The view down to the Sea Cliff Bridge which we’d just driven over and boy was it hazy…

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm, 1/800 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200

Amongst the clouds

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm, 1/1250 sec at f/4, ISO 200

A hang glider sequence

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/1600 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200

Watching

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 95 mm, 1/1000 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200

Headed out with some friends for a sunrise photo shoot at Coledale. With sunrise due to arrive around 7AM we headed out early (I got up around 3:30AM) for the long drive through the city and down the coast almost to Wollongong where we stopped at the small sleepy township of Coledale.

We ended up arriving early but this allowed a darkness rece of the area to scope out some potential locations – we decided the ocean pool was the best bet. In the darkness of pre dawn it was looking promising with an array of lighter looking clouds in the sky which we’d hoped would bode well for a colourful sunrise. Unfortunately whoever ordered the clouds that morning hit “Buy Now” a few too many times because more is just more and definitely not better in this instance.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Surge

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 12 mm, 2 sec at f/9, ISO 100

Sunrise came with no fanfare and heavy clouds blocked just about all the colour in the sky – twilight was a non event and I managed to snag a few less than stellar images just as the sun hit the horizon. I’ve taken a ‘few’ liberties with the colour and white balance to add a better mood…

Sunrise

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 14 mm, 1.3 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Out to Sea

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 14 mm, 1.3 sec at f/11, ISO 100

as luck would have it just when all was lost we were given a second chance… we had god rays beaming down through some gaps in the heavy clouds and they actually lasted for quite some time which was handy for trying different compositions with different lenses even

Lit by God

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 98 mm, 1/640 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Golden Nucleus

NIKON D7000 + 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/13, ISO 200

This years Lindfield Rotary Fun Run was held over the weekend and once again our school community entered a very large contingent of participants. Our family once again entered for the 5KM run/walk and we donned our running uniforms and numbered bibs.

NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 98 mm, 1/500 sec at f/4, ISO 360

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NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 90 mm, 1/60 sec at f/6.3, ISO 125

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NIKON D7000 + 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @ 86 mm, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100