Has any one got experience of photographing Sky Lanterns
I have a commission to photograph a simultaneous release of 500 next Tuesday ( weather permitting)
I will probably be using a D700 and a 50mm f 1.4 or a 16-35 f4
has any one tried one of those trail photos
yes I know I need a 24mm f1.4, but at the moment its out of my budget
Photographing Sky Lanterns
(19 posts) (11 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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If I tell you do I get part of your commission?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Sounds like a fun but stressful task. I would hire a fast wide zoom like the 14-24 f2.8. Its not like its going to wait for you change your lens. once its released they are released. They are not going back. A second camera and lens may also be a good idea.
Posted 2 years ago # -
if i were you i would make a couple and see what the best way to shoot them is. the candles are small, so i imagine they wont be that bright when they're far up.
you seem to have the slow shutter speed and the fast shutter speed options.
i might, if i were you shoot the 16-35, with say iso up to 3600. you'll get noise in the blacks, but the lanterns should be OK. a bit of movement might illustrate the busy nature of setting them up. the wind will obviously affect how fast they move and therefore how sharp they are at a given shutter speed, so maybe also affect what lens you choose.
Posted 2 years ago # -
this is where the useable programable modes would come in handy [as in D7000]
you can set one mode for freeze frame, shutter speed, aperture, iso, raw, auto focus type.
set the other mode to emphasize motion.
this will allow you to shoot and switch easily with just one body.
shoot raw
do all your thinking about exposure before, this will allow you to just concentrate on composure when you are ready to shoot.
think about what you will want to achieve, tripod? exercise mat to lie on your back? rent a balloon? climb a building? get the fire service to help with their ladder truck? rent a crane? want to be conservative, or want to be different, decisions that once made cannot be undone.
go to the sceen before, around the time that you will be shooting, take pictures of the entire sceen, shoot the area and the sky, review best shooting area and lighting/composure. Do some home work, know what will be to your advantage and whats not. Spend time looking at the shots at home/computer, shoot wide so you can make the decision on what you want to include and exclude in the photographs.
this knowledge will give you a 75% better chance of making that one in a million shot, as opposed to just showing up and shooting.
never shot a D700, so cant help you there, however, this is where the U1&U2 modes come in handy for me, it allows me to have three different settings , pre thought out before I get into a shoot, it like having three different cameras to use. I do not have to make changes while shooting. I make notes with a sharpie on masking tape and stick to my watch band so I can remember/ have an idea what's on the settings or what I want to use it for.
Hope your D700 has this feature, and sorry about the long post.
good luck with the shoot.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Find out how the balloons are going to be released - all in one small area one at a time or all at the same time over a large area. That's something you don't need to discover close to the moment.
Get a weather forecast for wind direction too.
Posted 2 years ago # -
sevencrossing said:
Has any one got experience of photographing Sky Lanterns
I have a commission to photograph a simultaneous release of 500 next Tuesday ( weather permitting)
I will probably be using a D700 and a 50mm f 1.4 or a 16-35 f4
has any one tried one of those trail photos
yes I know I need a 24mm f1.4, but at the moment its out of my budget"sky lanterns"?
i m a chinese. this much i knew, they are a bit like hot balloons with a paper body and heat source(solid alcohol, a small candle or things like these).
they raise slowly and with thier half transparent body, they lighten the dark sky at night.
so are you going for the light trails? try f5.6 - f11(it depends) ISO200. the lantern may be much brighter than the scene(you wont set them off in downtown area), so more tricks needed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
sth like that. shadow lighten, the sky is much darker than what it seems on the photo
Posted 2 years ago # -
thanks for all the advice
Nivakon it will be a park with street lights, so back ground light may be an issue
I tried using ISO 25600 (H2.0) last night and was surprised how well LR3 removes the noise
I will not be looking to capture any subtle colours, just the atmosphere of the event, so it looks like the f 4 16-35 VR is going to be OKCasperweb, Thanks, I will probably shoot manual
heartyfisher, yes a second camera would be nice, but that will have to wait for D800
Gareth yes the wind is critical, it could even cause the event to be cancelled, I spend a lot of time looking at MET forecasts
again thanks for all the advice
Posted 2 years ago # -
I looked at a Flicker search to see more images and it doesn't look too bad to shoot. Allot of the images had full EXIFs and by the photos I liked it looked to be shooting mid iso with a fill flash (to get the color of the lanterns) under exposed a bit to not blow out the high lights. Saw a couple shot with a good tele that compressed the image well. Many looked like they were shot at 5.6 to get the depth of field.
It seems to be similar to when I shoot fireworks. One thing I can say to get the trails you almost want two cameras. I bet they don't rise too fast so you would be opening the shutter for about 30 sec to 1 min. Loose allot of shots while that is happening. For trails, you can get away with lesser cameras easily. I use my G11 at 30 sec at iso 400 and get great shots. Since you will get allot of movement in the image anyway, along with high NR afterwards, almost anything would work. Obviously if I had a second DSLR I would use that but I don't.
That sounds like a really cool gig and should be fun to shoot for sure. Good luck and post some images when you're done!
Posted 2 years ago # -
yea waiting for your pics. normally we set them off one by another, not 500 at the same time.
BTW, that thing is called "kongming deng" in chinese - "the Kong Ming's lights"
Kong Ming, known as his real name Zhuge Liang, was a famous commander with high IQ and good knowledge. it is said that he invented those, who knows.Posted 2 years ago # -
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The zone system is going to be your friend.
If you had yet developed an instinctual feel for how the matrix meter would handle this lighting situation you would not be asking the community for advice.I'd spot meter and expose for the highlights (flame). This will give you a full histogram without clipping and allow you to set your black point (sky?) in post. Contrast to taste.
I'd also bracket only to the positive side, and do so aggressively. This will give you a "normal" exposure as well as a long exposure on every framing. Allowing you to pick, after the fact, a motion-stop shot or a blur.
If the lanterns are close (within you strobe's range) I would definitely play with fill and REAR CURTAIN sync. Biggest duckup you can make is front curtain sync on your fill in this situation. See how in Nivakon's example the man holding the lantern blends into the background? Unless you have a natural rim light you need to put enough low-aimed fill on the foreground subject to differentiate him from the inky background. Look for those natural rim lights.
Strategic placement of street lights (or other environmental rim lighting) behind people to silhouette their bodies while the lantern illuminates their face with the sky ink and the lantern setting the highlights while also acting as key light on their face, with mild flash working to fill gently enough to help define their bodies (don't want clipped joints) is the classic "go-to" shot you should be using as the foundation of your night's work, IMHO.
If you don't have full control over where YOU will be, some post work to remove distracting backgrounds should be considered. Ya got two eyes, one on the subject and one on the background!
Also plan for some complex curves work in post. One can hide a world of urban nighttime distractions with a little curve work.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@testing123 cant agree more.
the best situation is, that the lanterns are released at 1730 or 1800(depends on your location), with the sky filled with red, blue, purple, pink, yellow as background.
in my photo the shadow area is lighten in PS. before that you cant see anything except the hands holding the lantern and the urban lights. but once you use a large aperture or long shutter the lantern become overexposed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
spraynpray said:
Even in them days they cared about IQ? Who made the lenses back then?IQ here stands for Intelligence Quotient not ImageQuality
Zhuge Liang was born in DongHan(Eastern Han Dynasty) on 23rd July 181AD.
the DongHan was divided into three countries and the war never ends"famous politician, strategist, militarist and inventor."
the semi-auto bow was one of his invention.
"184cm(6 feet) tall", not bad for 2nd century.
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Hi,
This is me on New Year's Eve with my lantern and launch.
It was close to -20 degrees F. Another 20 degrees and both F and C are the same.
Good times.
My best,
Mike
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've just received the latest edition of UK "What Digital Camera" March edition, and on page 6 there is a great picture of several hundred balloons being released simultaneously. If anyone knows how to get it on (or a link) to this thread, I think the OP would find it usefull.
Posted 2 years ago # -
sorry I will have another go at posting photos
Posted 2 years ago #
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