Tuesday, June 23, 2020


THE 'BULB' SETTING
WHEN & HOW TO USE IT


As far as I know, all cameras are engineered to give us up to a 30" (thirty seconds) exposure. If it is too dark out there, the camera will talk to us and say things like, "Wow! You expect me to take that photo in this darkness? Well, I can, but you better have a tripod and be patient with me because this will require a 10" exposure.....or 20"......or 30." 

That's a great standard feature that most, if not all, DSLRs give us. I have several images in my collection that required 20"-30" exposures. The example below was created with a 25" exposure. That is a long, very long, time in the photography world. If you don't believe me, close your eyes until someone tells you 25" are up. 

I "painted" the underside of Mesa Arch at twilight with a simple large off-road emergency LED flashlight. 



That's great when it is still light enough, even at twilight, for the camera to calculate, on its own,an estimated time, like 25." What happens, however, when it is so dark that the camera's engineering goes beyond it's limit, i.e., it is so dark that it's brain doesn't know how many seconds, or minutes, it takes to give us an adequate photo? Ah, this is where we become the conductor; where we need to tell the camera what we want. We just pat its head and tell it, "Don't worry. I've got this." This is where BULB comes in. 

I don't know why, after all these years, camera manufacturers have kept that terminology, decades after photographers used a large bulb to photograph low-light scenarios, like portraits and such. Wow, that was a long sentence! 

First things first. You might start with your camera manual to find out how to set your camera to BULB. You might try this. Set your camera shooting mode to shutter priority first. Then, turn your command dial until your camera reaches that 30" mark. Then, change your shooting mode to M for Manual. Now, turn the command dial one more notch until you see BULB. Eureka!!!  Again, if that doesn't work, read your manual.

So, you ask, why do we need BULB? We need that setting whenever we want to photograph  subjects late in the evening or at night. Examples include, skylines, bridges at night, etc. We can also use BULB in more creative ways, such as photographing historic buildings, natural rock formations, etc. 

One of my favorite ways is to combine two techniques: BULB, coupled with light painting, like the image above.

Leaving our shutters open for 1-5 minutes, or longer, takes us into that "road less traveled." . To me, it's more creative than technical, meaning that it takes some calculated guesses to get exactly what we want. Left-brain thinkers get bothered by that, however, it is no different than bracketing a shot to make sure we get a really good one, or when we're creating an HDR image. The only difference is that we are bracketing in increments of 10" or more.

Now, are you ready for some examples? 


For this image, I first saw with my imagination. I saw the huge formation in the background and really liked its shape. I then saw the small Juniper in the foreground. I thought it might look cool if I "painted" it. All I did was slowly wave my flashlight at and around the tree for a few seconds. There is always more than one way of doing this. I used a cable release. Once I decided on the best composition, I set the camera on BULB. I clicked the shutter open with my cable release and locked it open. I then walked closer to the tree, making sure I wasn't in view of the viewfinder, and slowly painted it. I then returned to my camera and released the shutter with the cable release. 

In this case, it came out just fine the first time. If it had come out a little too dark, I would have simply repeated the sequence, but maybe painted the tree more slowly, to make sure the light and color registered better on the sensor.      

Someone said it reminded him of the burning bush in the Bible. 


                                                f/25 & approx. 2 2/3 minutes, at twilight 
       


Part of the trick to all this is to see it before you see it, as I explain in my book, Right Brain Photography. I like to explore, and one of my favorite ways to explore is to follow my intuition. When I see a road I haven't been on before, I like to take it just to see what's out there. I did just that one day near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was in the middle of the day. It didn't take long before I saw this really cool old red barn! I immediately knew I had to go back someday at twilight and "paint" it. 

I knocked on the house door near the barn . A woman opened the door and told me she and her husband owned the land. I asked her if she would mind if I photographed the old barn someday. She was very obliging. She raised her eyebrows in bewilderment when I told her I wanted to come back some evening after the sun set. She gave me this "Why?" look. I explained.

I went back about a week later. I called her first to give her a heads up. I didn't want her husband to come out with a shotgun that evening! I told her not to worry if she saw lights by the barn; that it would be me photographing it.

I first determined the best composition--that is #1 on my check list when I'm shooting. 
I then locked the shutter open and started painting. I started on the left, making sure I painted that small utility trailer too. I then continued on the wall, from left to right. I literally walked in front of my camera, knowing that my motion would not register on the sensor. I stopped for a short while before I painted the front of the barn, starting with that large door on the left, then continuing with the rest of the facade. I spent a few extra seconds around the inside of the barn where it was darkest. After doing that, I then spent a few more seconds painting around the top of the facade where it appeared that they used to have a light up there. I then went back to my camera and unlocked the cable release. 

This approach, and the same approach I took with the Juniper tree above, is my standard playbook for similar scenarios.  


                                               f/8 and just short of 3 minutes.



Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado. This image is on the cover of Right Brain Photography. This was approximately 5 minutes at f/20. I'd rather have more f/stop reach than necessary, for reassurance.      


         


This scene is also in the second-best city park in the world--Garden of the Gods. I used a wide angle lens and I was several yards away from this formation, called Tower of Babel. In order to pick up the stars, I used f/2.8. F/3.2 could have worked as well. Using BULB, and relying on my mobile phone timer, I left the shutter open for 26 seconds. Some cameras have a built-in timer that counts down the seconds--all you have to do is look at the screen and release the shutter when you're ready. 




This is a beautiful historic bridge north of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. As I did with the photo above, I used f/2.8 to gather enough light to record the stars. The "shutter speed," which is what it really is, was 44 seconds. The white and red colors are cars on the bridge.




I show this last example to demonstrate a different photographic objective conducive to the BULB setting--that of creating light streaks from moving vehicles. It has to be done late in the evening after the sun sets, but not so late that it's pitch dark. Those long streaks came from more than one car. There must have been three or four. If it's dark enough and the cars keep moving, they do not register on the sensors. I've had situations when one or two cars stop or slow down for some reason--not good! I don't want to see any cars in the photo.  

What I look for is a long exposure that will capture several seconds of moving vehicles; long enough to create light streaks from headlights and taillights. I prefer to get both in the photo, but if I can't, I prefer to get taillights.  

This requires a lot of patience. I have been known to stay in one spot for twenty minutes or longer just waiting for the right combinations. I always take several shots because I never know exactly what I'm going to get. It is yet another form of bracketing. I just look at the final images, pick the keepers, and delete the rest. 


                                                             f/18 and 34 seconds
              
   

I find it fun to go out in the evening. Several of my most creative images were created after sunset. By the way, for years now I have made the habit of wearing a bright reflective vest, the kind construction workers wear--it keeps me safe and minimizes suspicion by anyone who might see my body movements at dusk. I also have several pieces of white reflective tape on my tripod to lessen the chances of anyone mistaking it for a weapon. Times have changed and we have become more leery, suspicious, and on the lookout for danger. 

So, once you've taken safety precautions, go out and have fun with your camera and lenses. You will create that level of photography that will make people ask, "How did you do that?"

      


4 comments:

  1. The 'Bulb' choice was for my camera for ages trying to find stuff. In less than 2 minutes, you shared something precious.

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