Light trails no 2

rep8888

I made some more tonight what do you think










**Mod Note. When asking for C&C it helps if images are embedded. The usual practice is to host images on another site (such as Pix.ie or Flickr) and link here.

GhostInTheRuins

Nothing really interesting about them...

foamcutter

Your obviously experimenting as these locations are better than the earlier Motoway pic's, the last two seem to be at a rise/hump in the road.
I think trails look better when they bend or curve, but I'm no expert because I'm experimenting to.



and one from the Photowalk last week

kelly1

D-, more effort needed. Must study harder and is capable of good work!

baby and crumble

i too think that you need something of interest in a light trails pic- it can't just be about a red stripe and a white stripe... the great thing about light trails is that they invoke a real sense of movement, so getting a curve, or something really helps. Or you need to have a mix of static and moving- it adds dynamism etc.



Ok, some argue that there's a lot of dead space in that one but I like it. i just like the curve.



From a boards photowalk last year- the mix of static & lights I think looks nice. Plus bus streaks add a different dimension.

Then of course why stop at light trails from cars/ buses? try planes coming in to land!



Can you tell I LOVE night photography???

Your exposures & focus are improving, you're getting the knack of them, now try some weird experimentation, locations, getting a building in shot, or a person...

Maybe it's just me, but the first shot seems a little blurry?

Anyway, as has been said already, you need a point of interest in your shots. Light trails can be pretty to look at, but they won't hold your attention for too long, unless you've got something in your image that takes your viewers attention.

Candles are a lovely touch, but it's the cake you're interested in (I don't even know what that means, but it sounds good to me).

Find a bridge, street, sign post, etc. and work around that. Look for a local landmark or monument and try to think of a composure that includes light streaks.

I think my favourite light streak shot is one I took a few months ago that I liked a lot. It was a photo of the Drogheda Fire Station, with the cars passing on the road in front of it;





I like the Emergency Services in general, and I had wanted to take shots of their stuff for a while, so I was thinking of 'creative' ways to photograph their stuff that would be pleasing to look at, and I think I got lucky. I'm very pleased with it (even though it may not be to everyone's taste).

Let's pretend that's a lovel photograph (use your imagination!). It's lovely, it's something to look at, it's quite different, there's a few different things to look at, etc. then remove the Fire Station, and replace it with a field.

Now all you have are two light streaks on your image, with a dark dull background, with lots of grass and the backs of a few houses. Not quite as intriguing.


Much like, everyone who ever passes through Drogheda with a DSLR will have a photo looking down over the Cable Bridge, with light streaks on the motor way. It's a nice looking bridge, and it gets lit up with a lovely blue colour at night, making it quite nice looking with light streaks running under it.


Go look for a McDonald's M. They're usually lit up yellow at night. See if you can get a photo of the M with some red and white streaks behind it or passing it. Hell, buy a McDondalds meal, and take the photo of the meal, but in the background have a window, showing the cars passing outside.


There's a lot you can do, and I'm fairly sure you've got the basic principle of how light streaks work, so all you really need to do now is invest in a tripod if you don't have one (and if you do, use a 2 second timer anyway, no harm in it) and find yourself a pointof interest.

I've always thought a sombre shot would be of a location of a crash were someone had died recently. People tend to leave flowers or love notes or such at the location where the person died. If you took a photo of this kinda stuff, with the light streaks of cars 'speeding' by in the background, it could look really well. Alternatively, you could write your own little notes and buy a few cheap flowers in Aldi, and make your own crash site. Probably not something you'd be interested in, but I always though if done right, it could be a good idea (though if I did it myself, I'd probably not do it at an actual death scene).


Best of luck. Hope my waffling on has been of some benefit (but most likely not).

foamcutter

I put this one together by accident after seeing the thumbnails on Facebook.
It's not a complete heart shape, but it is coming up to Valentines day.

DK32

I'm a big fan of the night stuff & light painting. IMO I think light trails can work well in towns etc when you have either a point of interest or as others mention, some kind of curve & flow to them.

For motorway light trails I try and take them from really dark areas so as to focus more of the light trails & less on the actual road.

Couple of mine from a while back, the second one was a total fluke, it was my last long exposure of the night & an ambulance just happened to whiz by

Zillah

rep8888 wrote: »

I made some more tonight what do you think

You need to pick darker and more visually interesting locations. You seem to just be pointing at random pieces of road, which unsurprisingly look quite ordinary. Light trails are most interesting when they're against a dark background, yours are getting general exposure of the whole scene which is not good.

It'd also be nice if you could host your files off site so that they can be posted directly into the forum with previews so we don't have to open each individually.