Light Painting

Lopseychops

Lopseychops

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I tried light painting for the first time tonight at a landscape level, after reading a magazine article, and wasn't too happy with the results. I ended up with quite a blurry/out of focus shot.

Settings used: Canon 5D MkII, 17-40 f4L, focal length 24mm, ISO 100, 95 secs at f5.6, focussed approx a third of the way into the shot. (as recommended by said article).

I haven't touched the image in Photoshop etc.

Can any light painting oracles out there give me some advice as to how to sharpen up the image in-camera?



Windy Post by Canon Sniper, on Flickr
 
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what did you use as a light sorce
what were you expecting
it a nice image just a couple of area's a tad to dark nut not to bad
 
I used a handheld multiple LED torch.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like the image overall but I would have liked it a little more pin sharp.

It looks ok as a small image, but soon as you view it on a decent monitor you can see the many imperfections.
 
Lopseychops said:
I used a handheld multiple LED torch.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like the image overall but I would have liked it a little more pin sharp.

It looks ok as a small image, but soon as you view it on a decent monitor you can see the many imperfections.
Click to expand...

I think its simply down to you not focusing on the right thing. Despite what the magazine said, surely you should just manually focus on what you want in focus?

Shame really, looks like a cracker of a shot!
 
My suggestion is that shooting as wide as f/5.6 has been your downfall here, at that aperture your DoF will still be very narrow you should consider an aperture around f/16 :thumbs: also it seems very silly to me to focus a third of the way into the scene, just focus on what you want in focus :thumbs:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
Matt, your not quite right about f5.6 being narrow DoF, quite the opposite in fact, focused one third into that scene at 24mm and the DoF is very wide probably near hyper-focal putting everything beyond into focus Id guess.

Agree about focusing just on the foreground and increasing the DoF to cover everything else. F16, F11, even F8 might do it, especially at 24mm

Looks like it might be a cracking shot. :thumbs:
 
Thanks all for the advice.

Will try again tonight weather permitting with a range of settings as recommended by your good selves!
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Matt, your not quite right about f5.6 being narrow DoF, quite the opposite in fact, focused one third into that scene at 24mm and the DoF is very wide probably near hyper-focal putting everything beyond into focus Id guess.

Agree about focusing just on the foreground and increasing the DoF to cover everything else. F16, F11, even F8 might do it, especially at 24mm

Looks like it might be a cracking shot. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

At f/5.6 for 24mm on full frame for the limit of acceptable focus to extend to infinity you need to focus about 12ft into the scene, and then your near limit of acceptable focus is about 6ft

Using the settings above and assuming focusing about 10ft away gives the near limit of acceptable focus of about 5ft and still not extending to infinity.

Seeing as the OP is unhappy with the near work I'd guess the focus is too far for the given aperture.


Forget the 'rule' about focussing 1/3 of the way into the shot, take some hyperfocal charts with you and manually focus using the markings on the lens (if it has them).

Unfortunately this doesn't extend down to 24mm on full frame but it might be close enough to help, otherwise I'd just write down some numbers using the calculator
http://www.dofmaster.com/files/charts/samplecharts.pdf
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
 
Thanks for the informative reply Ricky.

I have looked at DoF tables before but just paid them lip service, but I will give them the upmost attention from now on if it means getting a good sharp image.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
At f/5.6 for 24mm on full frame for the limit of acceptable focus to extend to infinity you need to focus about 12ft into the scene, and then your near limit of acceptable focus is about 6ft

Using the settings above and assuming focusing about 10ft away gives the near limit of acceptable focus of about 5ft and still not extending to infinity.

Seeing as the OP is unhappy with the near work I'd guess the focus is too far for the given aperture.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right to me. :thumbs:
 
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As Ricky says, you should use hyperfocal distance for sharp front-to-back landscapes. The 'one third in' rule only works for closer range subjects where the furthest distance you want sharp is a lot closer than infinity, like groups of people.

The loss of sharpness is down to camera movement, and using a tripod is no guarantee of that. It must be a solid tripod, centre column down, no wind or vibration from traffic etc. And mirror lock-up just to be sure, though it doesn't make any odds when exposures get longer than a couple of seconds.
 
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Thanks Richard. Great info. Much appreciated.

I have a pretty sturdy Manfrotto tripod and there was not an ounce of wind in the air last night. Unusual for Dartmoor!

User error on the settings side of life by the look of things.
 
Lopseychops said:
Thanks Richard. Great info. Much appreciated.

I have a pretty sturdy Manfrotto tripod and there was not an ounce of wind in the air last night. Unusual for Dartmoor!

User error on the settings side of life by the look of things.
Click to expand...

Was it solid ground? One tripod leg has only to sink a couple of mm and you'll lose critical sharpness.
 
Yes, solid, albeit a little uneven.

I'll try for a level-ish spot tonight.
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
I don't see any camera movement ...the central subject looks good and clear so nothings moved,

Hoppy what are you seeing that makes you think that?
Click to expand...

Click on the image and check the large Flickr version, it's unsharp all over. Given that it can't be a focusing issue from what's been said, barring a mistake fumbling around in the dark, then it can only be camera movement.

The point I would really make is that just using a tripod is no guarantee of critical sharpness in itself, and the longer the exposure the more chance there is of losing the edge somewhere. Solid tripod, firm gound, centre-column down, zero wind, no traffic vibration, mirror lock-up, self-timer or remote release, and IS off.
 
Got all that. Thanks guys.

I think it was mainly a case of operator error though. I tried again last night shooting at f11 and posted the results on the Landscape forum earlier.

A whole lot sharper compared to the previous effort, albeit without the lovely red sunset.
 
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