Long exposures at night are fun. Building up and exposure with multiple light sources is easy. Here is a quick tutorial from a recent shoot.

I had the great pleasure of going out to shoot with my friend Gabriel Biderman and Joe Scalamoni at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, NY  with photographer and tour director Jim Logan last night. Yes, this is the very same Sleepy Hollow of legend that Washington Irving published in 1820. You can even visit his modest grave in the same cemetery.

After taking a tour around the 90 acre cemetery with Jim, we started shooting during magic hour near the large monuments:

© Matt Hill

© Matt Hill

And then moved into the older part of the cemetery where soft, marble headstones and sculpture were showing signs of wear. Great subjects! Let’s get started.

First off, I locked in my D700 on the PHQ1 + CT214 legs. Next, we put a speedlite on 1/16 manual power on a 15′ telescoping painter’s extension pole with a PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver set to receive. Standing in front of the statue and holding the flash as high as possible above, we made one exposure to test the flash power.

© Matt Hill | ISO 400, f/5.6, 52 Seconds

Next, based on previous exposures, we chose a 5-minute exposure to bring out sky detail and star trails.

© Matt Hill | ISO 400, f/5.6, 5 Mins.

The background is a bit dark, so after exposing our main subject, We used the speedlite and multiple pops exposed some of the trees and gravestones in the rear. Um, whoops. If your radio trigger and speedlite have blinking lights, walk behind the tripods ;)

© Matt Hill | ISO 400, F/5.6, 5 Mins.

It was not enough, so we jacked the speedlite to full power and tried again.

© Matt Hill | ISO 400, f/5.6, 5 Mins

Nailed. Since the background got exposure, you know this statue lives among headstones. Otherwise, it could be anywhere. One final touch – I took the final image out of Lightroom and into Nik’s Silver Efex Pro and added some special sauce, including a control point to bring down brightness on the tree in the background that got a little too hot. NOTE: For consistency, always use a flash meter!

Voila. Build your own soon! And be sure to bring your tripod ;)

Many thanks to Jim Logan from the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Historic Fund for allowing us to roam and shoot. If you are local or visiting, give him a shout – tours@sleepyhollowcemetery.org. He and Rob Yasinsac will be having a photo tour this Saturday, 9/4 – Introduction to Night Photography.

Gabriel Biderman will be having one titled, “Night Visions ~ Seeing the Unseen Beauty of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery” on 9/18 – 5pm-midnight.

The massive cemetery is full of some amazing interments – check out this list – including Andrew Carnegie, Elizabeth Arden, George Jones (co-founder of The New York Times), William Rockefeller and many, many more. Take a tour, and bring your tripod!

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery on Facebook

Gabriel Biderman Fine Art Photography

by Matt Hill (Twitter)

Brian Rueb is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in California. He teaches over 45 outdoor workshops a year with the Aperture Academy, and is working towards completing a book documenting his trek to Iceland, where he recently took an Induro CT213 tripod and an Induro BHD2 ballhead. What follows is his summary of the trip in his own words.

Iceland is a land of extremes. It’s one of the toughest places I’ve ever photographed. I knew from the get go it would be a test for my gear. Uneven surfaces, extreme wind, and driving rains: this place has it all. In addition to the weather, Iceland also has some of the most amazing landscapes on the planet—a real playground for photographers, like me, who find this type of work enjoyable. This project wasn’t just a week or ten days. It was 67 days of hiking and photography. With Iceland’s high latitude, the sun never really sets during much of the summer and that means the good light for photographing (sunrise and sunset) can last up to 5 or 6 hours.

©Brian Rueb

Not only was this experience going to be a test for me mentally and physically—it was going to be a test for my gear as well, and especially my tripod: an Induro CT213 and BHD2 ballhead.

Before I left I remember thinking, “If a tripod breaks on this trip, the trip is a waste. I won’t be able to photograph anything the way I need to.” I had to have a tripod that would make the cut, and I felt good about the Induro going in. Really good.

The first thing I love about this tripod is the weight: just over four pounds with the ballhead. During the course of my trip, I walked close to 450 miles—most of it hiking to and from a shooting location. Just my camera gear weighs close to 18 pounds, and combined with all the gear I need to camp, my bag weighs close to 50 pounds. Not a whole heck of a lot of fun to lug around. A tripod is an absolute necessity for me. Having one that doesn’t weigh a ton is so nice.

©Brian Rueb

While the overall weight of the tripod is nice, the thing about it that makes it so special is the stability. I had this tripod submerged in fast moving rivers. I had it balanced precariously on the edges of crazy cliffs. I set it up in 20-30mph winds. I put my 100-400mm lens on it for close up shots.I even put my 100-400mm lens on it in 20-30mph winds.

It works really well.

It always functioned as I wanted it to.

It always opened and closed easily, even after being submerged in rivers, sea, and muck. I wish I functioned as well after being submerged in muck.

©Brian Rueb

I’ve been doing this photography thing a long time, and have used and destroyed every kind of tripod imaginable. This tripod has been through the roughest spots I’ve seen, and performed at a high level throughout. Whether strapped to my backpack on a 30 mile hike, being shuffled around from bus to bus by uncaring bus drivers, getting slammed quickly into a car I managed to hitch a ride with, or set up for actual photography. I put this tripod through a huge workout. It came through like a champ.

©Brian Rueb

I even used it on a few occasions for protection from bird attack. The Arctic Tern migrates en masse to Iceland every summer to nest, feed and raise young. It is one of the most fiercely protective birds I’ve ever encountered. If you should wander too closely to their nesting grounds it’s an attack reminiscent of the worst scenes in Hitchcock’s The Birds thankfully there is a fault in their attacks, and they will always go for the highest point. When I walked through particularly tern-heavy areas, I used my Induro as a defensive pole over my head to ward off their attack.

Here’s four of my favorite shots from this trip to show the diverse and beautiful landscape I was fortunate enough to spend my summer exploring and photographing.

Brian Rueb Photography
Brian Rueb on Facebook
The Aperture Academy

Dan Carr recently posted a video showing off the GoPro HD Hero helmet camera in action. The helmet cam captures some mountaintop photography taking place on Induro tripods. Looks like a great time!

Shooting skiing in Alaska, GoPro helmet camera video. from Dan Carr on Vimeo.

Leander Hutton recently published “Five Tips for Photographing a Meteor Shower” on his blog. We really enjoy what he does and how he writes. Here is his post for our Five Photography Tips.

This week is peak time for annual Perseid meteor shower. Astrophotography was actually my first photographic interest, being a Astronomy student in college spurred my interest in photography. I’ve compiled five tips for making good looking astrophotos and some specific ones for meteor shower events.

1. This should go without saying, but a sturdy tripod and a remote trigger are necessity. You can get around the trigger by using your camera’s count down timer. This allows you to get your hand away from the camera when the shutter goes up and reduces vibration. Also check to see if your camera supports a mirror lock up mode for shooting. Most do for cleaning only, usually the mid-to-higher end models have it for shooting. This will further reduce vibrations introduced by the mirror flapping up.
2. As far as lenses go, the wider the better. A fisheye works best. Some of these things can streak all the way across the sky so having a full 180 degree is desirable. An f/2.8 maximum aperture will be beneficial too, although i’ve squeaked by at f/4 before. If you don’t have a fast wide angle lens I highly recommend renting one from a site like LensRentals.com. These guys are the best in the photo rental industry in my opinion. I’ve used them several times for several jobs and never had a single bad experience. *Lens Rentals is not a sponsor of this blog, I just really happen to like them.* If you don’t like the fisheye look you can use software like Fisheye Hemi to “defish” the photo in post.
3. Keep your exposures around 20 seconds or less. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Firstly it keeps the thermal noise down on the sensor (this can be a problem on sticky summer nights) and secondly you probably don’t want to streak the stars too much. You really want to meteors to be the only thing streaking, this gives the best impression of motion.  If you’ve got a motor drive telescope mount you can use that to track with the motion of the Earth. Most these mounts have a place for a camera tripod thread.
4. Don’t be afraid of higher ISOs.  Meteors are relatively faint, chances are you’ll miss a few if you’re at ISO 100 or 200. I typically shoot at ISO 400 or 800 for these and with most modern DSLRs that’s not really a problem. Even a five year old model will be fine at ISO 400.
5. Find a dark sky. This may be the hardest part of all. Every year more poorly designed street lights and billboards go up that fill even country skies with nasty light pollution. I recommend getting at least 15-20 miles outside of an medium sized urban area. Go even further out if it’s a larger one. Also, know your sky. The Perseids will appear to come from the constellation Perseus. Study a star chart for the time of night you plan to be out to know in what direction to generally point your camera. You can find free ones on skyandtelesope.com.

©Leander Hutton

Leander also sent me this line in an email: “I just purchased an Induro BHD1 and an AT213 tripod and I’m throughly enjoying it. I’ll probably have a review of it in a few weeks. Really good stuff!” We’ll keep an eye out for this review. Thanks so much, Leander! Great tips!

Leander Hutton’s site and blog

Leander Hutton on Twitter

Leander Hutton on Facebook

Leander Hutton on Flickr

Our first encounter with Zack Jones was when we saw the below image, which we found hilarious.

©Zack Jones

It’s not every day you see a Powershot D10 mounted on a monster tripod and head, like the Induro CT314 and the BHD3. Since then, we’ve become fans of Camera Guy Zack, his blog, his sense of humor, and the gear reviews he regularly posts. Jones resides in Goose Creek, South Carolina, and primarily photographs wildlife. A Canon shooter, he knows his gear, and enjoys bending ears about anything he finds useful in the world of photography. Jones also posted the below photo utilizing the above set up, plus the Induro GHBA Gimbal head.

©Zack Jones

While researching for a new tripod and head, Jones came across Eric Brown’s Photography Minute Blog and his review of the CT314. He also found our profile of Brown. The two shot similar wildlife. Soon, Jones was sold on Induro. So sold was Jones, he undertook a six-part series of posts covering his Induro experience. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Induro Gear Guide Part 1 – Introduction
2. Induro Gear Guide Part 2 – Induro CT314 Tripod
3. Induro Gear Guide Part 3 – Induro BHD3 Ballhead
4. Induro Gear Guide Part 4 – Induro GHBA Gimbal Head
5. Induro Gear Guide Part 5 – Balancing Your Camera/Lens on the GHBA Gimbal Head
6. Induro Gear Guide Part 6 – Wrap up

Thanks for the shoutouts, Zack. We’ll definitely keep reading and learning.

D.C. Chavez posted a great story chronicling his commercial work with Formula Drift drivers for an energy drink sponsor. He mounted a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 16-35mm f/2.8L lens on an Induro BHD3 ballhead inside champion Chris Forsberg’s car. Despite a tremendous amount of torque in drift driving, Chavez writes, “the BHD3 is the only ballhead I have used so far that has not loosened up after a lap or two with the 5D MK II.”

Known for his blog, where he documents putting off-the-shelf commercial photographic gear through real world production experience, Chavez also provides detailed accounts of how to use equipment which can baffle some mere mortal photographers.

The footage Chavez shot so impressed the director, he asked to incorporate is into the commercial. See the Canon and Induro rig’s results at :10, :13, and :24 in the below video.

Chavez also details work for another drift team sponsored by Hyundai. He documents how he eliminated vibration his in-car camera suffered by applying a Magic Arm. As always, a deeply informative piece. He even closes with a shout-out for the Induro CT313 tripod, which he hiked with over four days at elevations of 10,000 to 14,110 feet. Hooray for Induro Carbon Fiber!

Allan Weitz has published a great summary of the Induro PHQ 5-Way Panhead on the B&H Insights Web site.

Praising the thought and engineering which went into the design, Weitz calls it an “all-in-one camera support solution optimized for a range of photographic applications.”

After enumerating features, he goes on to claim the PHQ 5-Way panhead models “ideal for shooting QTVR, sperhical and 3D photo applications, as well as conventional shooting in the studio or on location.”

Other information about the PHQ Series panheads can be found on the Induro site, including breakdowns of all features, videos and specs.

Although Ken Lee has professionally shot commercials, weddings, concerts, and other types of photography, his favorite work is travel photography. His Top Five Photography Tips are geared accordingly.

Lee is a Los Angeles-based photographer, with assignments which have sent him around the world, from the Himalayas to the Andes, from Burma to Kashmir. His tips include respect of local language and the importance of multiple digital backups, among others.

©Ken Lee

Ken Lee’s Top Five Photography Tips

1. Make a strong connection with people you’re considering photographing. Learn the language of the country you are visiting, or at least a few words. This will often earn respect of people, particularly if it’s a more obscure language, and serves as a wonderful ice-breaker, helping you to connect. Good manners and respect also go a long way. I’ve had people invite me to their homes, their temples, or their place of work simply because I learned a few words in their native language and showed interest in who they were. Making these connections will help you capture the spirit of the people, achieving far better photos than the priciest cameras.
2. Don’t get too hung up photographic equipment. Make the most with what you have, learning it inside out, making it an extension of you. Even modest equipment can achieve stunning photographs. I’ve photographed Jimmy Page with a five year old Nikon D50 with no flash attachment simply because it’s what I had at the time. If something consistently impedes what you do, of course upgrade if you have the money. But always remember simply owning a camera of any sort is a privilege that most people in the world never get to have, and keep that in perspective.
3. Since I do travel photography, I am always walking around, frequently hiking to remote corners of the globe. Because of this, I travel light. I also like to capture the spontaneity of the moment. Rather than have multiple lenses, I prefer to have a “walkabout lens”. I use an 18-200mm telephoto lens, which enables me to capture what is happening faster than lugging several lenses and having to change them. Sure, the quality may not be quite as good as a fixed lens, but it’s far better than missing a fantastic shot.
4. Consider getting a good quality digital compact camera. I own a Leica DLux 4, which does very well in low-light situations for a compact camera, but cameras such as the Canon G11 or four thirds cameras would also work well. I find a compact enables me to be lower-key, attracting less attention, allowing me to get more candid photos. It also fits in my pocket, letting me be more mobile and spontaneous. And perhaps most importantly, I’m far less of a target for theft, and when photographing in certain parts of the world, this can possibly save your life.
5. Back up all your photos as often and as soon as possible, whether on a storage device, laptop, USB drive or CD-R, or by uploading it to a remote site. I sometimes will mail home the copies I’ve backed up on a USB drive or CD-R; after all, what good is a back-up copy if it gets lost or stolen along with your luggage? Also, use smaller SD cards in your camera. If your card becomes corrupt, lost, or stolen, you’ve lost fewer photos than if you had all your photos on one card.

©Ken Lee

You can learn more about Ken and his work at the following links.

Ken Lee Photography

Eleven Shadows

Ken Lee on Twitter

Ken Lee on Facebook

Ken Lee on MySpace

Brian Rueb sent us the following story chronicling his long exposure shots done on tripods. Thanks for sharing with our readers, Brian. Beautiful job!

Professionally, one of my most important pieces of equipment is my tripod. It took me several years before I started using a tripod for all my photography and it was one of the biggest ‘ah-ha’ moments I’ve had since becoming a photographer nearly twenty years ago. In those twenty years I’ve had more than my share of tripods. Early on, I never fully appreciated the importance of quality when it came to tripods, and subsequently went through more than my share of tripods. I tell a story of a tripod I broke before I ever got it out of the car to use. Over time, my trials have taught me the importance of a quality tripod. It is literally the foundation for all good landscape photography.

©Brian Rueb

I recently conducted a workshop and shoot in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon. This type of environment throws everything at you, and there is no better way to test the durability of a tripod. Water, mud, rugged terrain—this area has it all. I’m using an Induro Carbon Fiber 213 and BHD Ballhead. The first thing I appreciate when photographing in an environment like this is the weight. My whole tripod weights less than 5 pounds. When you’re walking mile upon mile up steep trails, and down slippery mossy rock slopes, the last thing you want is extra weight. Most new cameras weigh enough as it is.

©Brian Rueb

The Induro tripods also come with durable foot pegs that work perfectly in extreme environments such as this. Whether in the mud, on slick rock surfaces, or in rare instances on flat ground, the tripod worked like a charm, and held firm. Most tripod pegs aren’t removable, and it’s a constant struggle to make sure you’re screwing out the pegs properly, and the pegs just don’t have a rugged feel to them. The Induro pegs are hearty, to be sure. One photographer in my group commented, “Looks like you could kill a bear with those things.” They’re tough and they work, although I haven’t had to use them on any bears yet.

©Brian Rueb

My style of photography involves immersing myself and my gear in rivers, streams, and the ocean. The 213 worked great! Even when the current of the creek was racing, I had great stability for my camera. One instance that comes to mind was a long hike I made into a remote section of the Gorge where the best way to capture the image I had in mind was from in the middle of the creek. I spent roughly 45 minutes with the tripod in the water

©Brian Rueb

I was very pleased with how well the legs continued to open and close even after being submerged. This doesn’t mean tripods still don’t need to be properly wiped and dried when the day is done, but it worked brilliantly through that morning, as well as the duration of the trip. For this trip I hiked over 20 miles and saw eleven different waterfalls, which required me getting in the water to photograph most of them.

©Brian Rueb

I put my gear through a lot, and I really expect a lot out of it. The 213 performed at a high level throughout. A shoot like this puts a tripod through a tremendous amount of work. The last thing any photographer wants is to worry more about gear than creating images. My Induro never left me feeling let down, or worried when making my shots. I just hope I don’t run into any bears.

Brian Rueb is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Northern California. When he is not in the field or spending time with his family, he teaches infield workshops with the Aperture Academy, and this summer will spend 65-days photographing the beauty of Iceland, where he will confidently put his Induro Tripod through extreme conditions of every kind, and, most likely, not have to kill a bear. You can follow his journey on Facebook throughout the summer.

After spending the first ten years of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio, Tim Meyer has been a longtime transplant in the Los Angeles area. He’s lived in L.A., Orange County, San Diego County, and Santa Barbara. Studying photography at Orange Coast College in Coasta Mesa, California, he then went on to get a bachelor’s degree at Cal State Fullerton. While at Fullerton, he began his career in commercial portrait photography.

“I noticed the people who were doing the best work and who were the most creative had a little bit of an art background, which I had no experience in at all,” he recalls. The value of education is strong for Meyer, and at the start of his career—and with a young family just beginning—he went back and got a Master’s Degree in Fine Art Photography. That was 30 years ago. All his education and life experience haven’t slowed his desire to learn. Last year he started an MFA program at Brooks Institute, where he also teaches. Meyer credits education with “completely changing my style of work, my interest in work, and my understanding of others’ work.” For instance, his study of the work of masters such as Rembrandt and John Singer Sargent has influenced his composition and grouping.

©Tim Meyer

Conversely, Meyer understands the business world’s application of formal education. “The letters after your name don’t always do much for you, professionally,” he explains. “They did when I came back to teach, but when you’re working for somebody commercially, they don’t care whether you have a letter or two after your name. They just wonder what you can do for them now.”

Meyer credits education with helping keep his style fluid. “One of the reasons I went back to get the degree is that most of the people I knew—even the best photographers I knew—tended to be one‑dimensional. They had a particular thing they were very good at. They did it really well and built a whole career off of it, but they never diversified much. And, once you got them out of that area of expertise, they were not only average, but sometimes less than that. I didn’t want to be that person.”

©Tim Meyer

During Meyer’s thirty year career, styles have changed a lot. Probably best known for his dramatic black and white images, Meyer has seen photographic trends come and go. When one of his early images was given a negative review at a competition, he began to research how the criteria from which it was judged had evolved. “I started researching and finding out where a lot of those rules came from,” he recalls. “Most of the stuff I found didn’t have a basis at all. It was just somebody’s idea of something that kind of turned into a tradition.”

His research led him to photographers like George Hurrell, Yousuf Karsh, and Victor Avila. Meyer carefully studied the work of these masters, but realized he wanted to go beyond their techniques. “I’m not against the traditional things,” he says. “I think the traditional things are very important, but, again, it falls back to that one-dimension sense. We do what we do. We do it very well, but there are just so many other things out there that people don’t even consider and that’s been my quest for quite a while.”

©Tim Meyer

Whether Meyer shoots in color or black and white is largely a stylistic choice. “In the old days, even when digital first came out, or before with film, I used to always use one camera for black and white and one camera for color. When digital came out, even though you could switch it immediately, I still had one camera set for black and white and one for color. I don’t as much now because I don’t shoot them commercially as much as I used to. I actually think differently when I photograph in black and white than I do in color. When I think about color, I think how color dominates and that it’s almost always about the color. Black and white is almost always about the shape and form. So I light them differently, I compose them differently, I think quite differently about them. I do shoot them both in the same camera, but I just think differently about it. I think about dramatic lighting and contrast.”

The last few years have brought much traveling for Meyer and his wife. While most of his work professionally is digital, all of his landscape work and travel work is shot on film. Landscapes are often shot with an eight‑by‑ten inch camera on medium format film transparency. When he travels, Meyer shoots 35mm transparency. He uses a Leica M7 for his travel photography. “My main body is the Nikon D700,” he says. “I had the Fuji S5. I just moved that on, and now I’m using mostly Nikon products. So, D300 or D700.”

©Tim Meyer

Meyer relies on his Induro tripod for his travel work. “One of my favorite times is the evening,” he declares. “I really enjoy just incredibly long exposures on night scenes within cities. The tripod we use traveling is the Induro CX113. I also have an Induro monopod I just purchased that I happen to love.”

When asked about using tripods for his wedding work, Meyer is a believer. “I do absolutely,” he says. “I use it mostly for groups and for some of the still work. I use it extensively for the family portraits. I still do a lot of large wall portraits in my work, and you just can’t handhold a camera for that. I don’t care what shutter speed, whatever combination, you just can’t produce the spotlight 20″ x 24″ or 24″ x 30″ or larger off of that unless it is on a tripod.”

Meyer finds people mistaking tripod images for something created in Photoshop post-shoot. “With the advent of higher ISOs in noise reduction, et cetera, we meet a lot more people using tripods less and less. There is an image on my Web site, that opens up on Weddings. It’s a photograph of a bride and groom in front of a waterfall. My students look at that particular image and ask, ‘What effect did you use in the Photoshop to get the water to look like that?’ I tell them it takes basically two seconds to do and they can’t understand how you can do something in Photoshop for two seconds. Then I explain that it’s done on a tripod and dragging the shutter for two seconds and asking the bride and groom hold still. But it can’t be done, unless you’re using a tripod.”

©Tim Meyer

There are other examples of these types of shots on Meyer’s site. The couple kissing in the water at sunset, waves breaking around them, is also a tripod shot. “That was done with a Profoto AcuteB with a Magnum standing in the water. It’s about a two- or three-second exposure. So the Magnum is illuminating the couple and the rest of the scene is way past when the sun set, and that’s why you have to drag your shutter and wait two seconds. It looks like that, but then you see the movement of water. Of course the camera is on a tripod. That’s the only way to get that shot.”

©Tim Meyer

For lighting, Meyer owns the Profoto AcuteB 600R. For full details of Meyer’s lighting gear and how he applies it, please see Profoto’s blog post about Tim, which reprints part of this story.

Meyer sees the irony in the purchase patterns for professional photographic gear. “With digital cameras and computers, we end up replacing them every two years, eighteen months, whatever it may be,” he says. “They become either backup equipment or you’re replacing them. But when it comes to tripods, meters, strobe equipment like the Profoto equipment, or lighting equipment, you hold on to those guys for years, and years, and years, and years. In my case, I have come to believe even though the Profoto is a little bit bigger investment than most, I would wait the extra couple of months or whatever it is if required to come up with a little extra cash, because I would rather have good equipment for ten, fifteen, twenty years, than always wanting to get up to the best later on.”

©Tim Meyer

In November a book entitled The Portrait was published which Meyer co-wrote with Glenn Rand.

Next on his plate will be a series of black and white portraits shot with an eight by ten camera. Still in the planning stages, the subjects of the portraits may be the townspeople of where Meyer is living, Santa Paula, California. He will continue to take photographs and educate. Currently teaching at Brooks Institute, the future promises more quality photos and lessons from Tim Meyer.

Tim Meyer Photography

Tim Meyer Blog

Written by Ron Egatz