Practical Photography - UK (2020-04)

LIGHT PAINTING

Themissingchurch

ro ofcreateda unique

photoopportunity.

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 27

PHOTOGRAPHERSOFTENSTICK

to one or twogenresof photography,
but AndrewCampbell(instagram.com/
codestyles)explainshowa lackof spare
ti me forcedhimintotryingouta new
photographicstylewithpleasingresults.
“My passionis landscapephotography
and I love capturingthegrandvistasof
th e Lake andPeakDistricts.Thetrials
and tribulationsof modernlifemeansthat
I’ m short ofsparetimeto travelto these
st unning locations,andthishasforced
me to seek inspirationcloserto home.
“I have alwaysbeenkeento learn
ne w skills andon a cold,dampnightin
November, Iattendeda lightpaintingand
wi re wool workshopat a derelictchurchin
Bedfordshire.Thelocationprovidedseveral
unique focalpoints,includinginternal
ar chways, largeframelesswindowsand
most notably,themissingroof.
“F ocusingandexposurewereaspects
th at I neededto adaptin orderto achieve
th e desiredresults.Thenight-timesetting
meant that visibilitywaspoorso I had
to focus manuallyon my subjectusing
a secondarylightsource.The10sec
sh utter speedandISOof 400helpedme
ac hieve strikingabstractlighttraileffects.”

# 7 Try out

a new style

There’sa misconceptionthat

gr eatphotosaredependenton

owningexpensiveequipment.

Splashingthecashhasits

benefits,butLeeHall (instagram.

com/leehall1977)achievedthis

impressivewaterdropshot

th roughingenuityanda modest

equipmentpurchase.

“I’ma hugefanof macro

photographyand,afterseeing

lots of peoplepostingsimilar

photos,I decidedto tryit myself.

I built my ownwaterdropping

se tupforjust£3 aftervisiting

mylocalaquaticscentre.

“I wasthrilledwhenmy

home-madereservoirstarted

dr ippingintoa smalldishI’d set

upbelow.I experimentedwith

coloursby addingmilkto the

bottomof thedishandbluefood

colouringintothereservoir.

“I bounceda flashsetat

1/ 32off a reflectivesurfacein

thebackground,resulting

in thesubtlemoodyeffect.

A shutterspeedof 1/125sec

was fastenoughto freezethe

motionof thedropsas theyhit

thewater’ssurface,creating

someinterestingshapes.”

# 8 Don’t splash out

MACRO

Canon 7D MkII | 90mm | 1/125sec | f/11 | ISO 100

Olympus E-M1 MkII | 16mm | 10sec | f/8 | ISO 400

Olympus E-M1 MkII | 24mm | 10sec | f/3.2 | ISO 320