Playing with Fire and Light

Steel wool, multicoloured lights, a dark area and long exposure shots. Great fun with Blarney Photography Club last night!

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 24mm
ISO 500
Shutter speed 20s

Light Trails Through The Grand Parade

The Grand Parade last night while I was out with Blarney Photography Club in Cork.

The shot is a 25 second exposure. For 20 seconds I exposed normally with the lens at it’s widest, but for the last 5 seconds I slowly zoomed from 17mm to 40mm to get the light trail effect.

Aperture ƒ/22
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 17mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 25s

Star Trails in Utah

Star trails around the North Star, Polaris in Utah, United States.

This is a long exposure shot of 930 seconds shot at f/8. The night was fairly clear but cloud crept in during the long exposure. It was a glorious night. We were up in the mountains and away from most light pollution apart from the huge hotel 200m away to the right but you have to have some comfort, right?

Next time I’m going to try stacking shorter exposures using StarStaX and I have to avoid “bright” foreground objects. This photo was pushed too much and shows too much noise. 🙁

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 17mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 930s

Deep Water Berth at Ringaskiddy

The deep water berth at Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour yesterday. Driving rain, wind blowing it almost horizontal. The first day of the year was wet. I waited until it quietened down a bit before venturing outside with my camera! 🙂

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 24mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1.3s

Over at Rushbrooke

Looking across the River Lee from Monkstown to Rushbrooke on January 1st, 2015. Happy new year!

Aperture ƒ/22
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 24mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 13s

The Stars of Cork are Glowing

Here’s another shot of the ferris wheel and the lights of Cork City along the River Lee from earlier this month. It’s taken from a location near where I shot my previous Glow photo. I prefer this one however, the colours are more saturated, the starlike effect is enhanced and the angle is more interesting. What do you think?

Aperture ƒ/22
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 17mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 25s

The Starlight of Glow Cork

Street lighting shines like stars as Glow continues next to the River Lee in Cork.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 17mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 8s

The Grand Parade Ferris Wheel

This year the ferris wheel is back on The Grand Parade, Cork for Christmas again!

Aperture ƒ/22
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 17mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 20s

An Garda

A member of An Garda Síochána directed traffic in Blarney last night when Santa visited and the lights were turned on in the village.

This is a long exposure zoomed shot, of about one second duration with the flash firing at the end of the exposure.

To replicate:

  • Make sure you set your flash to “second curtain”. Use Google to find out how on your brand of flash. Normally the flash will fire at the start of an exposure.
  • Have the lens at it’s widest zoom.
  • Set the camera to one second exposure in shutter priority mode (Tv on Canon cameras, S on others) or use manual mode with an aperture as wide as possible.
  • Line up your subject, hit the shutter button and slowly zoom in.

If you’ve timed it right the flash will fire when you’re zoomed in right. They’ll be lit by the flash and any background lights will appear as streaks going towards them. It’s hard to get right and not overexpose your subject so keep practising!

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 6D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1s