Rules of third

This is a second example of rules of third. This one is better because it actually has the lines on to show you where the owl is positioned on the image. Its very effective and fancy looking.

Rules of third

This is a classic rules of thirds image, as you can see if you scale up the image into rules of third you would see the dog is over towards the right side. This makes the shot look better and give more of a professional look. The shot is  a very good example of it thats why i have used it.

Setting up your shot

Setting up your shot:

Photographing light trails is not difficult – it’s as simple as finding virtually any road with cars going down it once the sun goes down. But getting a shot that grabs attention means putting a little more thought into choosing your location, thinking about timing and framing your image. Here are a few tips on how to set your shot up:

• Timing/Light – one might think that the middle of the night is the best time for light trail photography (and it can be) – however one very effective time to do it is just as the sun is going down (just before and after). If you shoot at this time you’ll not only capture light from cars, but ambient light in the sky which can add atmosphere to your shots. You also might find that earlier in the evening you get a little more ‘action’ in your shot with more cars and even the movement of people through your shot.
• Creative Perspectives – some of the most effective light trail shots that I’ve taken and seen from others were taken from perspectives other than at the height of a normal person standing up. Get down low or find a place looking down on your scene that will create an unusual angle.
• Location – the most obvious thing with location is that you’ll need it to be somewhere near a road – however there’s more to think about than that. Choose a location that adds interest to the shot in some way. This might be one where there are well lit buildings along the road, one where multiple roads merge together to create light trails in different directions, on the bend of a road so that the trails sweep through the image, near a roundabout so the trails create circular shapes, in the middle of dual carriageways (on a triaffic island) so that you get traffic coming in two directions etc.
• Framing – the normal ‘rules’ of composition apply in this type of photography. Images need some sort of point/s of interest, the rule of thirds can be applied effectively, draw the eyes into your image using lines smartly, foregounds and backgrounds should add to and not distract from the image.

Reference: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-light-trails#ixzz1pku8NG00

How to do Light Trails

How to do light trails..

Equipment need when shooting light trails:

There is not just one particular type of camera and kit that you’ll need to capture light trails – however it is important to have a camera that allows you to have some control over exposure settings – particularly those that allow you to choose longer shutter speeds. This means you need a camera that has the ability to shoot in either full manual mode and/or shutter priority mode (something that all DSLRs and many point and shoot cameras have).

You’ll also need a tripod (or some other way to making your camera completely still) as you’ll be shooting with long shutter speeds which will make shooting handheld pretty much impossible.

Not essential but helpful to have with you are lens hoods (to help block lens flare from ambient lights), remote shutter release cables or wireless remote controls, patience and some warm clothes if you’re going out on a chilly night.

Reference:http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-light-trails#ixzz1pktXEO1u

Light Trails - Image

This is another picture taken the same way we took the first but this time we set a flash off at the start, so it lights the room and still shows the led lights that we draw with. Its another very cool and abstract way of doing it but the only problem with this is its also out of focus.

Light Trails - Me

My Light Trails..

This is my first attempt to do a light trail. I set the camera settings to manual and changed the exposure to 15 seconds. I stood still and got someone to hit the capture button and then draw around me. We used a red led light and the flash light off my camera to draw the halo around my head. This is a very effective way to do this but the only problem is focusing in the dark, because I left auto focus on when they tried to take the picture it jumped into a different place, Therefore making it out of focus.

Example of Light Trails

Light Trails..

 This is a picture of light trails. First thing you see is the very bright and vibrant colours that make this certain picture stand out. Its easy to tell this picture is of something that spins around in  360*. this will have been done using a Digital SLR. the person will have put the exposure time up to something like 10 seconds and this is how they've got this effect.

I found this image at...     http://iskin.co.uk/wallpapers/imagecache/1440x900/light_trails.jpg