Light in the right place

ISO 250, f=2.8, 30 seconds exposure

This picture is an example of a multiple lighting places.

As always, the most important part of taking a picture is planning it: when, where, how. This picture was taken in Grøtfjord, near Tromsø. My plan was to take a picture of something in the foreground with a northern light behind.

What is this something? I let that to be part of improvisation: get to the location and see what is available on site.

I got to Grøtfjord before the sky was completely dark, and walked around the location. I saw debris on the coastline (it had been stormy the previous day), so including the coastline was going to be a photographic challenge. Suddenly, walking around the coastline, I saw the image: a little boat in the foreground, and a stone pier behind.

The challenge was that the area was in complete darkness when night came, so if I wanted something to be visible in the picture, I would need to lighten it.

Here comes the decision: What do I want to illuminate? How should I do it? And most importantly: how long will it take?

For the picture above, I used 3 lighting points: one lighting the boat, one lighting the grass behind and one lighting the stone pier.

How?
Running. Running a lot. Unless you have a team of assistants, you will need to start the picture, and go to each place to  give the right light in the right places: remember to wear dark clothes, and you will be invisible to the camera. Trial and error is a must for this kind of photography: sometimes you use too much light in a place, or too little in another...

As always, patience will pay off!

Do you have questions or need help? Just send me a message to my facebook page, my e-mail or leave a comment!