Timed Exposure question

[merman]

I have an idea for a timed exposure picture, but i have a question before i try it out. If i have a person running around with a glowstick around the light will come out as a stream and the person will be blurred, if that person was to stop moving and stand very still at the end of the exposure will he turn out and be somewhat sharp? the effect i am going for is a person standing in the foreground with a blurred trail of the person kinda showing what he just did in the background....

[Travis]

I've never tried it..... but I would assume your subject would not be able to stand still enough for a long exposure without blur....

Assuming your back ground is dark..... it might be a better idea to use flash to freeze you subject but still leave your shutter open for the glow stick blur....

even so... the hand/arm area of the subject may reflect light from the glow stick causing blur to that area.... this may not matter to you....

[Travis]

btw... welcome to the Forum.... you should introduce yourself in the introduction forum...

[Marko]

I have an idea for a timed exposure picture, but i have a question before i try it out. If i have a person running around with a glowstick around the light will come out as a stream and the person will be blurred, if that person was to stop moving and stand very still at the end of the exposure will he turn out and be somewhat sharp? the effect i am going for is a person standing in the foreground with a blurred trail of the person kinda showing what he just did in the background....

Yes welcome - feel free to introduce yourself in the intro forum.

This will be a tricky if you want a great shot but I have some advice based on the answers to these questions
- when were you going to do this (evening? night? dawn? - indoors or outdoors)
- did you want to use flash?
- do you have a tripod?

thx
Marko

[merman]

thank you everyone!

marko, here are some answers

-I want to do it outside around dusk
-flash, i dont have any idea, i figured just use a high ISO?
-tripod yes i have a tripod


i will give you a little insite to a shot.
Its going to be a shot of an entire skatepark, i want the person to come out in the fopreground standing still, then have him walk back into the park get on his skateboard and do a lap.

if it comes out anything like it looks in my head i think it could be a really neat shot

[Travis]

uhhh.... i think your head is more technically advanced than the ability of current photographic technology....lol...

a long exposure at dusk will blow your picture up real good...

perhaps you will need to blend two pictures.... one of your subject at dusk.. and the second a long exposure at night for your trails... you will need a tripod and the camera should remain in the same place between the two shots...

this is out of my technical range so maybe someone else can provide a better answer...

great idea though

[Marko]

I think this is possible but it's going to be tough - VERY tough.

The hardest part of the shot is going to be having the person very sharp in the foreground since your shutter will be wide open and people normally can't stay still at speeds slower than 1/60.

So a weak flash at the end of the exposure might solve that problem

OR as travis suggested take a second shot of JUST the person of the foreground and try to blend the 2.

Anyone else have ideas?

[Bahandi]

set your flash to 2nd curtain, and your shutter to a few seconds... it would probably be better if it was darker out.