Lighting 102 - 7.3: Time in a Bottle Discussion

Here we are, on the very last of the Lighting 102 assignments. This series has been more than a year in the making, and it is almost time to put this one in the books.

But first, we take a look at your "Time in a Bottle" assignment shots from earlier this month. As I recall, you were to shoot a photo using flash and some kind of time-controlled variable. There was also a set of DVDs in play, just to make it interesting.

Your photos, inside.

Leading off is this shot of a tunnel, by Noah Bennett. It was lit during a time exposure by "~270 flash pops," which not only showed up in the frame but also lit the length of the tunnel.

Not sure how he controlled the flare in this one, but apparently he figured that problem out.


Next is Michael Foy's shot of a scratching post, which was done over time with lots and lots of flash pops from just about everywhere.

The final effect is sort of a subtle, surreal ring light look -- except for Molly the ghost cat, who apparently caught one of the pops.


This foosball table's starting lineup was shot by thatmushroom, using a single, tightly snooted 285HV. He lit the players individually during a series of exposures and combined them in Photoshop using the lighten mode in layers.

Picking one shot for the DVDs was not easy. All the more so because the first winning photo I picked turned out to have been shot over a week before the assignment was made. (Grrr... had the whole post written, too.) Sorry, but no brownie points for being psychic.


And The DVDs Go To:

I am not sure exactly what message Cesar T. Sanchez (aka The Light Whisperer) was trying to send with this photo.

Was it, "Don't drink and drive?"

Or maybe, "If you are going to drink and drive, drive a Ford?"

Who knows. But that focus-shift effect is pretty cool. He used the time component to allow himself to shift focus from the macro, flash-lit keys to the booze three feet away for the ambient burn-in period. He details the process further, here.

Congrats, Cesar. If you will Flickrmail me your snail-mail address, I will get the DVDs out ASAP. Just follow the link on my comment under your photo.
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In addition to Cesar, congrats also to all of the people who contributed such good stuff throughout all of the Lighting 102 assignments. You all put a lot of work into them, and it shows. The entire Lighting 102 series has been archived with internal link chains. You can take a look at the entire long and winding road by starting here.

Thus closes Lighting 102. This may be the last post in this series, but there is more participatory stuff coming. Stay tuned for more on that soon.