How to take Light Trails

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Can anyone give me some advise on how to take light trail shots of cars lights.
The approch i was going to take was

Use a tripod
Set the shutter speed to 10 seconds
Take ambiant light reading to work out the aperture needed
Set the camera to manual and put in the 10 second shutter speed and aperturesetting
Take the photo.

any other tips or advise.
 
I'm just wondering, if you take the ambient light reading, do you mean the road or sky or a matrix type metering?
 
Take a meter reading from the sky if you want to create something that looks like this.

motorway-lights.jpg
 
If you are using a digital camera I would just have a play around and see - it sounds like you have pretty much got it sorted.

I use to live near the M1 and went out one night to get some shots and they turned out ok after trying a range of settings:

http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/6/8/The_M1_by_JimmyLemon.jpg
http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/9/f/Speeding_Car_by_JimmyLemon.jpg
http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/7/d/Ghost_Train_by_JimmyLemon.jpg

Dunno why I watermarked them back then - looks crap now :(

You really need to find a good location though - as the ones I have a really dull. I saw a great example once, will see if I can find it.

Edit - Here it is on the canon website - http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/eosdigital2/html/eosdigital2_sample_8e.html
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
If you are using a digital camera I would just have a play around and see - it sounds like you have pretty much got it sorted.

I use to live near the M1 and went out one night to get some shots and they turned out ok after trying a range of settings:

http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/6/8/The_M1_by_JimmyLemon.jpg
http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/9/f/Speeding_Car_by_JimmyLemon.jpg
http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/186/7/d/Ghost_Train_by_JimmyLemon.jpg

Dunno why I watermarked them back then - looks crap now :(

You really need to find a good location though - as the ones I have a really dull. I saw a great example once, will see if I can find it.

Edit - Here it is on the canon website - http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/eosdigital2/html/eosdigital2_sample_8e.html
Is it just me or do all those image links resolve to a 'local' IP address?!
 
Sounds as though the OP has got the right idea. There is no standard settings to use as the exposure will always vary depending on the level of ambient lighting, the volume of traffic etc.

A good idea is to take a piece of black card with you - during the exposure you can hold the card in front of your lens whilst there are no cars in the frame.

I did some traffic trails shots a few weeks ago and had a play with the white balance to remove the orange glow of UK streetlights. They look kinda strange!

http://adwright.co.uk/?p=64

Some others:

http://adwright.co.uk/?p=36
http://adwright.co.uk/?p=60
 
I think the problem with these types of photos is that they're all pretty much the same. It would be cool to see some photos where maybe the scene itself is interesting, and the light trails are just a part of the scene, not the subject of the scene.
 
nomore said:
I think the problem with these types of photos is that they're all pretty much the same. It would be cool to see some photos where maybe the scene itself is interesting, and the light trails are just a part of the scene, not the subject of the scene.

Like this?

http://www.danheller.com/images/FAQ/Tech/Stars/img3.html

Technical details: Canon EOS 1v Body, EF 17-35mm f2.8 lens (@17mm/f2.8), Tiffen FL-D filter, Velvia film (rated at 40ASA), 3.5 hour time-release exposure.

This shot is interesting for a variety of reasons. First, the lighting of the tents was very lucky. I hadn't intended to get them lit at all, but as people got up during the night to go to the latrine, their flashlights lit the interiors of the tents as they moved around. (Altitude causes frequent visits to the latrine, especially at night.)

Second, because the night had no moon, I was concerned there wouldn't be enough light on the ground to give the scene some context. But, as it turns out, the ground was lit entirely by starlight. That seems amazing, especially because stars are normally not bright enough to do that. However, at 16,000 feet, the air is so thin and there is no other light pollution around that the Milky Way is like a huge light band across the sky. You can sort of make it out by a cone-shaped glow in the middle of the image from the top down to the horizon.

Another other lucky factor was that the night temperature drops below feezing at that altitude. Frost or other elements could have ruined the picture simply by building up on the lens, the camera's battery dying, or by the camera simply not functioning at all. Yet, nothing went wrong.

—Fun things to note The green hues on the horizon is the cloud cover at 10,000 feet being lit by the lights from the towns below. They use mostly fluorescent lights to save energy, and as you know, those tend to glow green on film.

The reddish color just above the horizon fading to blue higher up is caused by the red dust kicked up from the ground below. Tanzania didn't have a lot of rain this season, and the last wet season was also particularly dry. As a result, the dryness caused a lot of the red dirt to fly everywhere.

Lastly, star just above the horizon is the southern celestial pole. There is no equivalent of Polaris (the "north star") for the southern hemisphere, but this star is as close as you can get. (There is a small arc.) It's close to the horizon because Kilimanjaro is three degrees south of the equator.

kilistarsbigko9.jpg
 
nomore said:
I think the problem with these types of photos is that they're all pretty much the same. It would be cool to see some photos where maybe the scene itself is interesting, and the light trails are just a part of the scene, not the subject of the scene.

True - I keep meaning to go and re-shoot this scene with a more interesing sky:
adwright-IMG_1925.jpg
 
Think this was F8 about 15 secs, ISO 100. Tripod, edge of the pavement, cable release (or self timer). Don't bother with any filters in front of the lens if your taking shots directly into light like these as the flare will be a mare.

0003.jpg


Raymond, that is one awsome pic. All Hail The New King!!1
 
danza said:
*whispers*

It's not his! :p

That is however quite an excellent shot.

I wish that was mine, I've linked it and the image has the photographer's name :) He has a lot more great shots on his site.
 
Totally agree with nomore. Light trails should be used to enhance an already good shot, not to simply do the cliched motorway bridge long exposure.

CRW_4654-03.jpg


CRW_4650-01.jpg
 
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