shooting in the dark with lit match/cigar

mani

mani

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Imran
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I was experimenting last night (not in THAT way)

but i couldnt get a decent shot of myself lighting a cigar

there was too much overspill of light from the match thus the pic wasnt achieving a dark look to it with just the face and match showing.

the pics were coming out of focus even though i was using setting it up and then taking the pic on a 10 second timer - would a remote control be of better use?
 
Where were you setting the exposure? Were you shooting in manual?

Not sure it would work but suggest you set exposure on the face with a lighter in front to get correct exposure.

Alternately, take one shot of the face and one of the lighter and merge to get correct exposure on both parts of image?

Just a thought.
 
Thanks for the tips :)

now i'll have to find a cigar smoker to picture *LOL*

i knew it'd be a difficult ask as soon as i began running to get infront of the camera

ah well i'm off to do some tilt shift photography now.
 
Very tricky shot indeed.

Ensure the surroundings are dark, dim or black ...that way the small flame wont have the power to light them...only the face.

.Because the flare of the igniting match its brighter than the burn of the match and the lighting of the cigar, it will flood the sensor with excess light .
Try lighting the match at a greater distance from the lens, then move the lit match towards the camera to light the cigar ..Or move the flame slowly and balance the time of the warm flame against the brightness of the matches ignition.
.It is possible to balancing the brightness of the flare against the burn doing stuff like this.

Its going to be blurry ..because your subject has moved/is moving.. you'll need to keep the face and lighting of the cigar dead still if you want crisp focus .. Not easy at all.

I think Id try plenty of military timing type practicing and possibly a rear sync flash (very small and muted, possibly blinkered in direction with tape and stuff) just to try and freeze the face….large dark room to avoid light bouncing back, like the flash needs to go into darkness, no bounce.

Good luck :D
 
mani said:
I was experimenting last night (not in THAT way)

but i couldnt get a decent shot of myself lighting a cigar

there was too much overspill of light from the match thus the pic wasnt achieving a dark look to it with just the face and match showing.

the pics were coming out of focus even though i was using setting it up and then taking the pic on a 10 second timer - would a remote control be of better use?
Click to expand...



I would fake the shot. Shoot a speedlight on very low power and gel it the same warm color of the flame. Point it up from a couple feet off the ground, triggered off camera so it will illuminate your face with a warm glow. A little bit of cooler fill light for the whole scene or go with ambient. Use self timer or remote in your hand (think zippo lighter instead of match) and you have your shot.

You could substitute off camera flash for a gelled LED or video light. Easier still use a small torch in your hand to illuminate you face, pretend its a lighter or hide in your hand behind lit match.
 
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Set up your shot, leave the lights on, then use the self timer for a shot. Now flick the focus to manual, without touching the lens.

This should mean that when you do the shot in low light, your in focus.

Wait for the match to die down to a lower level to get less light. Do this buy holding the match vertically so the flame has less wood to burn.
 
What camera are you using? Do you have live view? If you do connecting the camera output to a tv can help hugely with composition and exposure.
 
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