Have you seen Singapore during the Mid-Autumn Festival? Lanterns line the streets of Chinatown, making it a long exposure night photography playground.
In this light trail photography tutorial, I share a few composition tips and Photoshop tricks for making your night images stand out.
[Video] The Art of Light Trail Photography
Photographing Singapore’s Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns
One of the most important festivals in Singapore, as well as many other countries around Asia, is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It started over 3,000 years ago to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
In Singapore, you can see lanterns hanging around Chinatown from mid-September to mid-October.
My goal was to capture the festive spirit of this vibrant celebration. To do that, I wanted to photograph light trails passing through a tunnel of lanterns.
Light Trail Photo Composition Tips
In my light trail tutorial, I talk about two effective composition techniques: leading lines and Dutch angle.
One thing light trails are great for are to add leading lines to your night photography images. They help to draw your viewers eye through your scene, be it a cityscape or mountain road.
When shooting light trails, I sometimes tilt my camera to the side to throw my horizon line off center. This cinematic technique, know as the Dutch angle or tilt, can give your photos a more dynamic look to them. And with light trails in particular, a Dutch Tilt can make your photos feel like you are flying into them, as well as give a sense of speed.
How To Layer Light Trails In Photoshop With Blend Mode Lighten
It can be a challenge to fill your frame with light trails. Even if you take a very long exposure, there still may not be enough cars passing by to light up the streets.
One light trail hack is to blend multiple exposures into a single image. You’re essentially stacking a number of photos on top of each other to get the most trails possible. The process is simple.
First, take a number of photos of your scene with cars moving in each direction. You’ll want to make sure you dial in the correct light trail photography settings.
Second, make your basic adjustments in Lightroom. Third, import into Photoshop, align the images, then choose your best photos.
Finally, you highlight all the layers and turn on blend mode lighten. Once you’ve finished, you can then paint out any unwanted objects or light trails. For a step-by-step walk through of this process, watch my light trail tutorial.
Easy Night Photography
Taking photos at night doesn’t have to be difficult. By applying a few simple tricks, you can easily make your vision a reality. Remember to give leading lines, Dutch angle, and blend mode lighten a try on your next night photo outing. I hope these tips will help you stay creative in good times and bad.
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