Welding in the Dark

[Gaurav Prabhu]

Where Was it Taken?
>The above shot was taken last night in Mumbai.

What settings did you use?
> Aperture : F 6.3
> Shutter Speed : 8 Secs
> Focal Length : 34.9mm
> ISO : 80
> WB : AUTO
> Self timer : 2 secs

What gear (camera, lens etc) did you use?
> The shot was taken with a Canon Powershot SX100 IS mounted on a tripod.

Why did you compose the shot as you did?
> I preferred to compose it the way as I noticed the welding trails falling on opposite direction as to the worker in a vertical manner. Composing it horizontally would not have made a better composition.

What post production work have you done on the shot (if any)?
> Just sharpened the image, nothing else.

What were you hoping to achieve with the shot?
> Capture the light trails in a smooth manner.

What did you do well?
> Managed to capture the light trails in just the perfect way while getting a strong composition.

How could you have improved it?
> Compose more tightly. Maybe leaving a little space on right hand side to cover all trails would have been better.

[BigFuzzy]

This is really excellent... nice work.
One question, is it really an 8 second exposure? Wouldn't that have blown it out or did he simply do one quick burst of it during that 8 seconds? If it is, even more impressive that even the man is still relatively sharp.

[Gaurav Prabhu]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

This is really excellent... nice work.
One question, is it really an 8 second exposure? Wouldn't that have blown it out or did he simply do one quick burst of it during that 8 seconds? If it is, even more impressive that even the man is still relatively sharp.

The man was doing burst, some short some long while welding. He came relatively sharp because he didn't moved much. Here is the exif data of the image.

[BigFuzzy]

Cool, thanks. And to be sure, I wasn't challenging you, just curious.
Well done.

[Gaurav Prabhu]

No Problem. I love challenges.

[pAthdoc]

This is an awesome shot. It makes me want to go out and find a welder to photograph. Great movement in the sparks!!!

[Gaurav Prabhu]

Thanks pAthdoc.

[JessicaO]

Really nice capture of the sparks of welding! I like how you got the brightest burst of light coming just above the man's shoulder.

[Gaurav Prabhu]

Glad you liked it Jessica.

[TheSparks]

Consider me inspired. Seriously, I'm calling my cousin who's a welder right now, I have to try this tonight. I think the composition really works. More area and I think it would take away from what you were trying to capture. Great shot.