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Are you attracted to Light Trails or trails of light from cars ? Have you ever wanted to photograph them but didn't know how? Today I'll tell you step by step , so you can photograph your first trail of lights and achieve amazing results. But first, as I see that night photography attracts you, take a look at this mega guide that we have prepared for you, with lots of tips, tricks and inspiration, so you can get SPECTACULAR night photos.
Now yes, we can continue. It is important to start at the beginning, because you may not know what we are talking about but your curiosity has been piqued.
WHAT ARE LIGHT TRAILS OR LIGHT TRAILS?
Light trails are light trails left by vehicles in their path when they are photographed with a long exposure time. They are also known as strokes or, its English term, light trails .
The result of this photographic technique is a dynamic image that is very visually attractive. They are images that do not leave you indifferent and that, well executed, are spectacular.
RECOMMENDED MATERIAL FOR PHOTOGRAPHING LIGHT TRAILS
Believe it or not, you don't need a lot of equipment to photograph light trails. This is the recommended material:
- Camera with manual mode or that allows you to control the exposure speed. You can do it even with many smartphones ( if mobile photography is your thing, this mega guide is for you ).
- tripod . This accessory is essential because when using long exposure times you need to stabilize the camera well (what are you looking for a tripod? We help you with the purchase ).
- Remote Switch. It is recommended but not essential. The important thing is that you do not shoot by pressing the shutter button because you can move the camera and get shaky photos (shaky), but there are other options, such as activating the camera timer so that they shoot automatically; or use a remote control application if your camera has a connection for it.
- ND filter. Only for some specific occasion that we will see later, it is optional.
- Parasol. Also optional if you want to avoid stray lights.
- Flashlight or headlamp. If you are going to a very dark place, like the mountains or an isolated road, do not forget a flashlight or headlamp to illuminate where you are stepping and to be able to operate the camera.
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH VEHICLE LIGHT TRAILS STEP BY STEP
As we like to make things easy for you, I am going to describe step by step how to take your contrail photography , including the most appropriate camera settings :
- Place the tripod in the chosen place and with the desired composition. Make sure it is firm, if it is airy, place weight hanging from it to gain stability and avoid extending the central spine. Later I will give you some location and composition tips to make your photography more spectacular.
- Set the shooting mode of your camera. The first step is to use a mode that allows you to control the exposure time, it can be the Manual Mode or the Speed Priority Mode, in which you choose the shutter speed and the camera adjusts the rest of the parameters to achieve the exposure. correct. A third option is, if your camera has it, to use Bulb Mode, where the shutter remains open from when you start the photo until you decide to stop it.
- Shutter speed. Once you have decided on the mode in which you are going to photograph, determine the exposure time. After 8s you can get trails, although this will depend on the speed of the vehicles, for example. If you can see the cars, it is because the exposure time is very short, increase it until you hit the key. You will have to keep trying until you find the appropriate exposure time according to the circumstances. If you see that you have to increase so much that the photo is overexposed, try closing the diaphragm or use the neutral density filter, if you have it. (One trick: when you have to take too long exposures due to lack of flow, you can cover the lens with the lid or a black piece of cardboard between the car and the car).
- Set to a low ISO value. In order to have a better sharpness, you should ideally use a value as low as possible.
- Opening. This will depend on the effect you are looking for. A medium aperture will offer you balance between depth of field and light. An aperture of f/11 or smaller (higher f/ number) will make streetlights look like stars, but trails may appear less vivid. That's why it's important to find a balance with settings that meet your creative expectations. It is best that you experiment starting from an intermediate opening. And if you use Speed Priority mode, you don't need to adjust it yourself, the camera will do it for you. If the results do not convince you, switch to Manual Mode.
- Focus. Make sure you have the focus right. Ideally, you should focus manually. Another option is to focus automatically using the Live View of your camera, if you have it, by zooming in on the screen (not with the lens). Once you have focused what you want, you can put the focus in Manual Mode and not move the camera or the tripod anymore.
- Block the mirror. If you're not shooting in Live View, lock the mirror up so it doesn't hit creating judder.
- Turn off the stabilizer. Since the camera is already stabilized, you don't need it, disable it because it will bring you more inconvenience than help.
- RAW format. Shoot in RAW because you will achieve better editing results, as you will capture much more information in the image for processing.
- white balance If you use the RAW format you don't have to worry because you can adjust it in the processing.
- Activate the timer or shoot remotely. You already have it!
TIPS FOR ACHIEVING THE BEST VEHICLE LIGHT TRAILS
Although you now know how to achieve a photograph of light trails at the time of shooting, there are other factors that will lead you to success, that is what we are going to see now, tips so that you get not a photo of trails, but a SPECTACULAR photo of contrails.
PLANNING
Planning is often the foundation of success. Improvisation may bring good photos, but it is not normal and less in this case. It is important that before taking your photograph you plan what you want and take into account factors such as the location, the time or the preparation of the material.
It is also important that you arrive at the chosen site before the time you want to photograph, because that way you can study the place well and try different compositions until you find the one you like best.
LOCATION
The result of your photo will depend, to a large extent, on the scenario you choose. If you just want to practice, you can do it from anywhere, from your window or the doorway of your house if you live there is a street or highway where cars pass. But if you want a great image, an impressive photograph, you will have to think carefully about the place where you are going to take the shot.
There are many and varied options, from the mountain where you can see sinuous curves to the bridge over a six-lane avenue. Everything will depend on the result you want and the options you have available. If you can choose, think about what you want to convey with your image. In the composition section I will give you some ideas that will help you choose the site according to the sensations you want to convey.
Some ideas are:
- bridges. Bridges over highways or large avenues offer you the possibility of shooting from above and being able to capture the traces of two colors, the front white and the rear red.
- Rooftops. From the roofs of tall buildings you can combine the urban landscape with the lines of the road. The normal thing is that you have to ask permission to avoid problems, and if it is a public place, make sure that you can take photos and use a tripod.
- streets. Any street is also useful for you, the important thing is the background you have and how you make the composition. You can resort to streets where there is a beautiful building that frames your stelae or to others where there is another type of attraction such as neon lights, or large windows of cafes or restaurants where the stelae mix with the stories.
- Highways or highways. They are usually very busy, especially at the entrance and exit of the cities, if you find a safe place from which to photograph you will obtain abundant and interesting contrails.
- Crossroads and roundabouts. At intersections and roundabouts you will find more possibilities, due to the frequency and trajectory of the vehicles.
- Roads in the mountains. If you are looking to abstract the lines on a dark stage, a curve on a lonely road can be a very successful option. Of course, be patient because the frequency will be rather low. You'll also get spectacular mountain scenery if you go high up and capture a stretch of road that winds through the mountains.
- tunnels. A tunnel can also give you quite a few creative options if you can find a safe place to shoot from.
- Avenues next to a great river. What if you combine the lights of the boats that navigate the river with those of a parallel avenue or a bridge that crosses it? If you live near a large river with an influx of boats, do not miss the opportunity.
- Train stations, metro, airports… Trains and planes also leave light trails and the stations can give a good frame to the light trails. Ships leaving and entering ports also leave trails of light, they are slower but you can resort to longer exposure times or stacking multiple images.
TIME OF DAY
The moment you choose to take your contrail photographs is very important. On the one hand, because for them to be appreciated there must be a lack of light in the environment, if not, the trails go unnoticed, so you will have to do them in low light hours. On the other hand, due to the frame that they offer you, the result will not be the same if the sky is orange than black or almost black. The sensations will be different.
The ideal moment is the blue hour, which takes place shortly after sunrise or shortly before sunset, since there is little light but it is not total darkness and the effect is very visually attractive, the contrast between that sky and the lights is very pretty.
Now when the sky is completely dark you can also achieve fantastic results. You are seeing it in the different examples that I am giving you, it all depends on whether you want to give more importance to the lights or to the landscape; if you are looking for a warmer or colder result, etc.
COMPOSITION
We have a mega guide that you cannot miss in which we tell you absolutely everything related to achieving a great photographic composition. It is an essential that I recommend you read and always have on hand, since the composition is an essential part of any photograph.
However, I am going to talk to you here about the most important compositional aspects when taking a photograph of light trails.
- Colour. I start with it because you may not think it is important, however, taking color into account will not only help you achieve a more attractive composition, but it will also serve to imbue your photography with emotion. Choose the colors well, to create contrast, harmony and/or convey sensations.
- Abstraction. Another way of photographing the trails is from abstraction, that is, making a more minimalist composition in which you capture only the lines in an empty space, so that it results in an abstract photograph.
- Lines. A vertical line is not the same as a horizontal one. Nor does a diagonal transmit the same as a curve. In addition to leading the gaze, what do you want to convey with your photography? Find a place that allows you to draw the lines exactly how you want them on your photo, not randomly. The diagonals create tension, the horizontals stability, the verticals transmit strength, the curves are seductive, the "S" curves are attractive by nature and are absolute protagonists. It's up to you.
- Vanishing Point. Speaking of lines, where they come together, it 's called the vanishing point and it's incredibly powerful at the composition level, as it directs the gaze directly towards it.
- Natural frame. You can focus attention on your main lights by putting a frame on it, and I'm not talking about the white border ? but framing them with some element you find in the scene, from a broken wire fence to the branches of some trees.
- Human element. We are naturally attracted to other human figures, so you can consider including static or moving figures within the composition, in that case, it may be interesting that the lines lead to the figure.
- Perspective. Don't settle for one perspective, experiment with low angle, high angle and overhead views. You will see that the effects are completely different.
- Point of view. The angle you shoot from will determine the trail, the lower it is, the higher the lights will be in the scene. Buses will also give you higher beams that fill the frame. You can also shoot from a high place for a different effect.
PILED UP
When the traffic is not too fluid, you can resort to stacking, that is, taking several exposures and joining them in an editing program.
Stacking can also be useful when you include a large portion of landscape and the route that the vehicles have to take is much longer. In order not to make exposures too long, you can make several shorter ones and stack them.
EDITION
The last step of your photography is not to click, it is to edit the photograph in your favorite editing program to leave it exactly as you want, adjusting lights, shadows, contrast, focus, noise, color, etc.
The camera will give you what it is capable of capturing, but you, as an artist, have much more to offer. Don't be shy, give it your touch, your look and take out of the image what you had in mind when you planned the photograph.
OTHER TIPS
In addition to the above, I would like to add a few extra tips for shooting light trails:
- Experiment with the opening for different effects.
- Be patient, these types of photos do not usually come out the first time, but based on trial and error, do not throw in the towel as soon as you start.
- Combine the trails of the cars with the lights of the sky, do you dare with a circumpolar? The key is long or stacked exposure times, but above all, finding the perfect location.
- No photo is worth more than your own life, no matter how much you want to stand in the middle of the road or take risks to take impressive photos, the first thing is safety. Look for places where you can safely stand, roundabouts, sidewalks, islands in the center of the road, etc. And if it's somewhere isolated, wear reflective clothing so they can see you.
- Use an ND (Neutral Density) filter for very long exposures or if you want to shoot at sunset, when there is still light.
- Don't be afraid to resort to exposure bracketing to achieve balanced lighting throughout the scene. To do this, take a photo underexposing 1 stop, another with the exposure meter at 0 and another one overexposing 1 stop and then join them in the processing.
- Other trails of light. Not only vehicles leave light trails, fairground attractions, fireworks or the different options offered by light painting can be the main protagonists of your light trail photographs. Also get light trails by moving your camera over static lights, for example, or any other option you can think of. Creativity has no limits!
- get inspired. Here are some photos of stelae so you can get inspired and fill yourself with ideas.
And here is today's article, I just hope you put it into practice and that it helps you achieve your best light trails. We'd love for you to share them with us and, if you have any questions or comments, write it down ??????! Don't be shy about sharing the article on your social networks either, I'm sure it will reach someone out of the blue ? .
