I had a chance to run out to Joshua Tree National Park in California. This is where I began learning night photography.
I photograph a lot of abandoned sites. This came about in part because I have a multi-book deal that encourages this sort of thing. Truthfully, however, I just love photographing abandoned areas anyway.
But this night was different. I was excited to photograph some nightscapes in my spiritual home for night photography. I was going back to my roots. However, I can’t help but think that perhaps I subconsciously applied some of the approaches from trying to pull out texture and create a 3D feel from abandoned areas to these trees and rocks.
Two quick steps to lighting the Joshua Tree
First, I ran to camera left about 25 feet away and lit the tree from the left for about two seconds. At that location, I blocked part of the beam of the light from my ProtoMachines LED2 handheld light so that it would be confined to either the tree or directly behind it.
Then, I quickly ran to the other side, about 25 feet to the right of the camera, and did the same thing, only from the right side.
Why am I running?
I was trying to get the stars to show as pinpoints of light for this photo. Consequently, I set the camera for only a 30-second exposure. Not very much time. I guess I needed the exercise. When I mean “quick,” I really mean “quick!”
Angles of lighting
If you look at the photo, you can see that the right and left side of the branches and trunk of the Joshua Tree are lit. The center is in shadow. Why? I like it that way. It imparts a sense of mystery and doesn’t look like everyone else’s photo.
I lit the tree from about 25 feet away on each side at approximately 120 degrees on each side from the camera (well, OK, 120 and 240 degrees … you know what I mean!). This is shown in the “angles of light painting” picture above. I stay out of the frame of the camera because I don’t wish to shine the light into the lens. Also, lighting the tree from at least 25 feet away softens the quality of the light, which I like.
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