Playing with the kids

[middleagecyclist]

This week I have mainly been playing with cycle lights and my camera.

I intend to get a wonderful trail of bicycle lights at night, exposed over several seconds, with my bicycle (and me) flash frozen at the head of the trails. That is what I intend but I still have a way to go before achieving this.

I have managed to get this picture so far. While I was doing this I was accosted by a very drunk man who suggested I was a paedophile and informed me he was going to call the police (??because I had a camera and was taking a picture of a fountain??). Still, the exposure settings were useful and I realised I needed a darker location, bigger aperture and faster ISO to get the flash aspect to work as I want.

​

​

​

Light Trails Around The Fountain​

The next night I went somewhere much darker to try again. While there I thought I would first get some video of my cycle lights in full glory. This I did. Unfortunately, I did not progress any further as I was accosted by several feral youths on BMX bikes who kept asking if they could "borrow my lights". I made very clear I was not going to give them anything they 'asked me' for but I might give them something else if they didn't Foxtrot Oscar.

The accusation of paedophilia suddenly popped into my head along with a mental image of the local newspaper headlines shouting hysterically about a middle age cyclist bothering innocent little kids in the area. I then decided discretion is the better part of valour and promptly left.

I will get my picture but will have to pick my locations and times very carefully or may get arrested first!

 

[DooBlood]

hahaha good luck!

 

[Doseone]

Sounds like you'll have fun getting that picture. I love the pic with the light trails. What settings did you use? - specifically how have you managed for the lit (eg the shops) areas not to be blown with the length of exposure you must have used to get the trails.

 

[col]

Clever stuff, But how do you get just the lights and nothing else in the trail?

 

[middleagecyclist]

Not hard. Work in progress. Not want I want yet though.

Take one camera with lens and a tripod. Set up somewhere darkish where exposure time of several seconds can be achieved. Do some test shots to establish correct aperture and ISO to obtain long shutter speed (exposure time). Add in moving lights on bicycle. Voila!

The only things moving that can register will be bright where anything else dark and moving - me, the bike, pedestrians - will not. The only dark things that show up are stationery. The secret is getting the balance right so the stationery bright things don't become a burnt out, glowing mess!

Nikon D5000 with Nikkor 12-24mm DX zoom at 12mm
Shutter speed: 25 sec
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200

 

[middleagecyclist]

For anyone who wants to see the a more successful execution of my original idea, I have posted a picture in the Photo Gallery - A bike at night with some lights. Still not quite what I intend but getting closer.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

While I was doing this I was accosted by a very drunk man who suggested I was a paedophile and informed me he was going to call the police (??because I had a camera and was taking a picture of a fountain??).
The next night I went somewhere much darker to try again. While there I thought I would first get some video of my cycle lights in full glory. This I did. Unfortunately, I did not progress any further as I was accosted by several feral youths on BMX bikes who kept asking if they could "borrow my lights". I made very clear I was not going to give them anything they 'asked me' for but I might give them something else if they didn't Foxtrot Oscar.
The accusation of paedophilia suddenly popped into my head along with a mental image of the local newspaper headlines shouting hysterically about a middle age cyclist bothering innocent little kids in the area. I then decided discretion is the better part of valour and promptly left.
I will get my picture but will have to pick my locations and times very carefully or may get arrested first!

This is one of the reasons I eventually stopped photography - it was just too much hastle one way or another!

Good luck if you want to do it though, oh, and nice pictures.