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These artists create calligraphic graffiti with light painting

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I find calligraphy wonderful, and it remains something I’d like to learn. So naturally, I was enchanted by the combination of calligraphy and photography. Mexican artists Said Dokins and Leonardo (Leo) Luna combine calligraphy and light painting.

Their project is named Heliographies of Memory, and they use calligraphic movements along with lights and long exposure photography. As a result, they create amazing “calligrafitti” at the iconic sites. They are only visible after the photographic process, and invisible to the naked eye while the process lasts.

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How I took this photo that gives you the key to the stars

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Do you have the key to the stars? Italian photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza asks this question in a marvelous photo he took one night in his home country. When I saw this photo, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It looks like a keyhole through which you can see a whole other world – the sky full of stars and the Milky Way. DIYP contacted Alberto, and he was kind enough to share the details of how he took the photo with us.

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This photographer created phoenix wings by light painting with real fire

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Light painting is something many of us try at some point in our photographic journey. Some of us just make a brief visit into this world, but others make it their home. One such photographer is Derek VanAlthuis, an avid light painter who’s produced some outstanding work. One such image is the one above.

When I first saw this image, I could immediately tell that it wasn’t your average light painting photo.  The fire just looked so real. As it turns out, it looks that way because it is real fire. I got in touch with Derek to find out more about his process, and get some insight into how this image was made.

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“Bored” RAF pilot sent jet into a 4,440ft plummet because he was “playing with his camera”

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This story seems to have been going on for quite a while now. It started three years ago, to the day, in fact. On February 9th, 2014, RAF Voyager ZZ333 was en route from RAF Brize Norton to Camp Bastion Airfield in Afghanistan containing a flight crew of 9 and 189 passengers. Aside from a little turbulence, the flight was going well. That is until the plane suddenly pitched down, and plunged 4,440ft in altitude.

Between then and now, there’s been a lot of investigating going on. The pilot has now been publicly identified as Flt Lt. Andrew Townshend. He’s facing a court martial hearing, that’s still going on. And it seems he was not entirely honest with his initial reports. When he initially put down to a a technical fault was apparently caused by trying out long exposures with his DSLR due to being bored.

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How to shoot long exposure timelapse with direct sunlight in the middle of the day

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Shooting long exposures on a bright day can be a hassle. Even with your aperture at f/16 and ISO as low as it’ll go, you’re lucky if you can get slow enough to blur motion. This is where super strung neutral density filters come in.

Jay P Morgan of The Slanted Lens takes us out on a visit to Santa Monica beach in this video. Using Syrp’s new Super Dark variable ND to cut 6-10 stops of light from his exposure, Jay is able to get those 2-4 second exposures you need for daylight timelapse.

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The new Super Dark variable ND from Syrp lets you shoot long exposure timelapse in bright sunlight

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Variable neutral density filters are typically more common for video than photography, but there’s that grey timelapse area in the middle where the two worlds tend to often collide. I usually go with regular NDs for long exposures and timelapse, but having recently picked up a variable ND for video, I have found myself using it a lot more for regular photography, too.

Mine doesn’t go quite as dark as Syrp’s new “Super Dark” variable ND filter, though. Offering 5-10 stops of neutral density, the filter will ship in both 62mm and 82mm sizes, with step-up rings to fit other lens sizes included. It also contains built in physical stops and handy markings around the edge of the filter to let you know just how many stops of light you’re blocking.

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This is what the canon rubber thingy on your strap is for

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If you own a Canon and use their strap. Have you ever wondered what that little rubber thingy on the end of the strap is? I did, and I don’t even use a Canon. Turns out this little rubber thingy is a cap. And not just a cap, it is used to block the view finder so there are zero light leaks and flares. It’s usefull for when you are doing extra long exposures, light shooting stars at night. Huge thanks to Bassam Sabbagh for sharing this tip with us.

Now if you wanna go out and shoot stars, this is how to start.

 

How to shoot long exposures for only $1

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I find long exposures to be great fun, especially once you start really stopping down the light and extending that shutter to ridiculous lengths.  The costs of getting started, however, can add up very quickly.

In Mathieu Stern’s latest video, which features long exposure photographer Thibault Roland, we are shown how we can get started very inexpensively using welding glass as a filter over our lens to cut down the amount of light hitting our sensor, and lengthening those shutter speeds.

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Everything you ever needed to know about shooting and editing timelapse

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If you ever wanted to get into timelapse, but didn’t know where to start then Bloomberg documentary filmmaker, Griffin Hammond is here to help.

In these two videos, Griffin shares how he shoots and edits timelapse sequences from start to finish. While your camera and lens may be different to those chosen for these videos, the principles are the same, no matter what you’re using.

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