Using artificial light at night
FEBRUARY 14, 2024
A black Sands Basin hot spring at Midnight in Yellowstone National Park.
While on a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago I discovered how much fun it is to use a flashlight to selectively light up the springs and the rising steam. Digital cameras made this technique possible because you can “chimp” the pictures in the preview screen in the back of the camera after each shot. Mirrorless cameras make this process even easier because you can start off with the proper exposure and just focus on painting the light.
While driving around in the middle of night I was pulled over for driving too slow. The ranger thought I might be drunk or something. My purpose was to avoid hitting a bear or elk or whatever that might be walking around on the road in the dark. On the drive home a big giant bear was in the road right in front of me and started running down the road not getting off to the side. So my slow driving in the middle of the night proved to be the wise choice.
I used a giant Maglight flashlight to do these pictures. It has an old school incandescent bulb that warms the light. The newer LED flashlights are better light sources with the phenomenal amount of light produced and many have the ability to focus the light. I was cupping my hand around the light to make a human gobo. The light reflecting off my hand I handed the warming. The LED lights have a weakness with turning the light blue or yellow. I’ve sort of fixed this problem with taping a warming CTO gel over the light of some of my LED’s. It still doesn’t look as good as the Maglight. The Maglight weighs a couple pounds and looks like a baton, so no backpacking or long hikes happen with this beast.
Nighttime photography with digital creates opportunities not possible with film. You can get stars frozen in the moment not possible with film. You can also adjust the white balance to show the sky the way it needs to be seen.
One trick I’ve discovered with doing digital nighttime photography is to use a quarter or half moon to balance the stars with lighting the landscape. A full moon is too bright, it looks like daytime and the stars get washed out. No moon works if you want to pop a light onto a subject in the foreground but the landscape is a blackened shadow.
The key to getting these pictures is to grab your camera and a tripod and get out and get it done. Oftentimes you’ll be disappointed in the results, but you can learn from your mistakes and it’s not like there’s an editor threatening you. People only have to see your successes, you only have to learn from your mistakes.