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UER Forum > Archived Rookie Forum > Long Exposure Underground Photography (Viewed 533 times) -insertnamehere-  Location: CO Gender: Male "...We're taking photos" ... "PHOTAHOES?!?!?! ?!"  |  Long Exposure Underground Photography < on 1/16/2010 8:36 AM >   I've been exploring the local drains for some time now. I got very angry at how the flash limited the range of sight, so I started messing about with long exposures. Thanks to CHDK, I experimented around a bit, and came up with these (among many others). not much variation, but this was mostly just trying to get everything right. I'm not happy with some things. in particular, the blurriness (probably just camera limitations), the ghosting, and the washed out sections. I don't think these are worthy of the photography section, due to the fact these are my first. I'm looking for criticism! #1 #2 (my favorite) #3 #4 #5 metawaffle  King of Puns Location: Brisbane! Gender: Male Purveyor of Fine Lampshades  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 1 on 1/16/2010 9:10 AM >   Looks like a good start! All you can really do with drain photography is keep experimenting, trying not to get too disheartened when all your shots come out badly, until you find an approach that works for you. You might be interested in the Flashlights, Torches and Portable Lighting private board, which talks about light painting... http://www.longexposure.net Crumpet  Location: Brisbane, AUS Gender: Male You know you're in Brisbane when...  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 2 on 1/16/2010 1:46 PM >   #2 is brilliant, and I can't really fault you on #4 either. I've tended to steer clear of light painting with LED torches; instead so far I've been experimenting with glowsticks, so I'll leave it up to the pros to give tips on how you can improve there. Generally speaking: I've been draining (with a camera, of course) for about a year now, and I still have a lot to learn. My first shots were utterly hideous, my next ones not so much, and so on. As meta said it's experimentation; if you make an effort to analyse and learn what turned out well and what didn't every single time you go underground, you'll notice a marked progression in the quality of your shots as time progresses. Anyway, that's as great a start as anyone can hope for. Keep it up - Crumpet (http://www.urbanillusions.org) [from micro's "drainer rules"] 3rd RULE: If someone says "rain" or "thunderstorm", the draining is over. edsel  Location: Under your skin  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 3 on 1/16/2010 11:32 PM >   As the other have said...practice practice practice. Thats whats nice about digital is you can shoot and shoot and not worry if you make a mistake. What type of camera do you use? If you have a DSLR and your lenses have a distance scale on them you can set your lens to infinity (sideways 8 looking symbol) and it should be in focus for you. Keep it up! www.flickr.com/edsel12 -insertnamehere-  Location: CO Gender: Male "...We're taking photos" ... "PHOTAHOES?!?!?! ?!"  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 4 on 1/17/2010 12:58 AM >   sadly I don't have a DSLR...I wish. All I've got is a Canon Powershot a530 that I got on ebay for about $30. I just figured out how to set the manual focus and override the exposure length at the same time, so I'll try setting that to infinity and seeing if that works. shotgun mario  Location: MSP Gender: Male MSP Elite™ Card-Carrying Member  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 5 on 1/17/2010 1:50 AM >   looks like the blurriness might be from being out of focus. Have someone stand at the distance you want to focus at and have them light themselves up to help get the focus right before you actually start the shot. Not bad for first time. As meta already said, it's just a technique that you have to find out from first hand experience-- no one will be able to tell you how to photograph drains, but we can tell you the steps we use to help you along the way. Just keep at it, and you'll quickly get better! If you want to protect the locations you love to explore, don't talk about them online in public! If you want to make exploring friends, send people private messages! Meet up in real life! Get off the internet! Don't try to have a UER e-penis! You won't impress anyone! This especially means you, Minneapolis MN newbies! metawaffle  King of Puns Location: Brisbane! Gender: Male Purveyor of Fine Lampshades  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 6 on 1/17/2010 2:29 AM >   It's worth saying, though, that there's not even vaguely a 'right' way to shoot drains, and even if there was, what's the point of doing the same as everyone else, right? There are a bunch of people on this board who shoot drains in ways that have all sorts of technical flaws, but are engaging just because their approaches are different and personal. http://www.longexposure.net metawaffle  King of Puns Location: Brisbane! Gender: Male Purveyor of Fine Lampshades  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 7 on 1/17/2010 2:29 AM >   By which I mean, come up with some cool new ideas so we can all steal them http://www.longexposure.net pmoradi2002  Location: Irvine, CA Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 8 on 1/17/2010 5:51 AM >   Posted by -insertnamehere- sadly I don't have a DSLR...I wish. All I've got is a Canon Powershot a530 that I got on ebay for about $30. I just figured out how to set the manual focus and override the exposure length at the same time, so I'll try setting that to infinity and seeing if that works. You can't expect to have quality photos with a $30 camera, especially in little to no light shots. Your pictures are blurry because you are not standing still enough. But do what you can for now and keep practicing to get a better understanding. -insertnamehere-  Location: CO Gender: Male "...We're taking photos" ... "PHOTAHOES?!?!?! ?!"  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 9 on 1/17/2010 6:51 AM >   well, It's not technically $30. It's about $160 new. I just got a good deal on it! I'll have to head down again sometime soon and try out some new things. I already have some more inspiration Twystr  Location: 39.2N, 104.17W Elev. 6535ft Gender: Male Gimme Biggah Drayyyyynes!  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 10 on 1/17/2010 7:00 AM >   Posted by -insertnamehere- well, It's not technically $30. It's about $160 new. I just got a good deal on it! I'll have to head down again sometime soon and try out some new things. I already have some more inspiration That's what I paid for mine in '06... $165. Takes great photos when everything's tweaked. Even 'dummy mode' works great, I however recommend that you use Manual settings whenever you can. "The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either." -Ben Franklin IIVQ  Location: La Sud-Est du cité majeur du North-Holland (Bijlmer), .NL Gender: Male Back in Urbex!  |  |  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 11 on 1/18/2010 12:40 AM >   Really beautiful all, especially #2. I'm jealous. Judging from #3 and #5, your blurriness stems from focus, not motion problems. Try to go as shotgin mario said: get a strong flashlight, aim it at the desired focal point, then half-press your shutter button for focus. Switch off your flashlight, fully depress your shutter button and go make a picture. Also, it wouldn't hurt to go a little darker than you do now. The amount of light at #2 is good. If you use highlights ad are attempting t o get a special light effect (opposed to getting an overall well-lit image), 1.5 to 2 stops under normal lighting isn't really a bad thing. I've gone 3 stops under and still got really good pictures. Also, for others, I've found I have to take ALL of these measures to get an absolutely motion-blur-free picture from my DSLR: Tripod DISABLE image stabilizer (when using tripod) use self-timer and/or remote control use mirror lockup (that is: the mirror flipping up usually moves the body a bit. By doing this well before taking the picture, this motion is reduced - but use it in combination with a 2sec timer) avoid wind. If you can't: fasten all fasteners on your tripod and don't raise the center column. Focus: use manual, or use autofocus with a light, focus, then disable autofocus. Stand still - you'll be surprised how much vibrations can be transferred, even trough a solid concrete plate. Tijmen Posted by MapMan | 18/9/2005 19:25 | Hedy Lamarr made porn? Posted by turbozutek | 20/9/2005 2:29 | Dude, educate us! mello  Location: Port Colborne Gender: Female tastes like chicken.  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 12 on 1/18/2010 1:01 AM >   I love #2 I feel your pain of taking drain pics with a point and shoot, as I did that for a year and a half.. Everyone here has good suggestions, don't get discouraged just because of blurriness or grains. Be creative and work with your limitations, rather than seeing them as a complete hindrance. when you are here, you wish you were there. but once you're there, it soon becomes a here, and you again wish to be there instead of here... we will never be completely satisfied. IIVQ  Location: La Sud-Est du cité majeur du North-Holland (Bijlmer), .NL Gender: Male Back in Urbex!  |  |  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 13 on 1/18/2010 10:23 AM >   I just wish we had drains here in NL so I could shoot in them. They're just almost non-existent. Posted by MapMan | 18/9/2005 19:25 | Hedy Lamarr made porn? Posted by turbozutek | 20/9/2005 2:29 | Dude, educate us! digital_me  Location: Colorado Gender: Male When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro  |  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 14 on 1/19/2010 6:30 AM >   #2 is good, backlighting is fun. Just fuck around a lot. Try new things, try crazy things. I spent my first two years photographing drains on a point and shoot. Having a 15 second exposure limit forces you to be creative. These days I can be lazy and leave my shutter open for like 10 minutes if I want to. Did I mention you should shoot a lot? -insertnamehere-  Location: CO Gender: Male "...We're taking photos" ... "PHOTAHOES?!?!?! ?!"  |  Re: Long Exposure Underground Photography <Reply # 15 on 1/19/2010 10:32 PM >   well, with CHDK I can override the shutter length. I used around a minute to two minutes on each of these, but I could go up to 15 minutes if I really wanted too UER Forum > Archived Rookie Forum > Long Exposure Underground Photography (Viewed 533 times) All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire. 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