Wrecked Tavern

[Frank Schmidt]

Wrecked Tavern
(If you look closely you can see blurry weeds (foreground); that’s me walking in front of the camera with the spotlight making the weeds move. I’m in dark clothes so the camera can’t see me.)

Anytime you see stars in a night time photo you know the camera was on a tripod or mount of some kind. Nearly 10:00 PM, f/7.1, ISO 400 with a Canon 60D and kit 18-135 mm lens at 24 mm.

This is the old Lynchpin Tavern in what is now called Branson West, Missouri in the southern Ozarks hills of the state. The building has been derelict a good long time and the town has grown up around it.

The hard part of this shot was the WalMart Supercenter parking lot sodium vapor lights 50 meters to camera right. They would like to overwhelm the scene and make it look like daylight unless I could get stars to show in the night’s sky.

So, I used a 20 second exposure and a spotlight to brush light on the building so it would expose clearly. Any longer than 20sec and it looks like daytime with no stars.

The inside of the cabin is lit with an LED flashlight covered with purple photo gel (colored cellophane like material).

See more at: FrankSchmidt | RedBubble

[northmichigan]

That is so coool! I've been wanting to try light painting for quite some time, but just never seem to find enough time in the day.

[norie]

I love the colors in your shot! Really nice!

[Frank Schmidt]

Yes, Norie. You can use any colors of 'gel' you want in night pictures. The packet of them ; about 5 basic colors, was $25 US at the camera shop.

The flashlight was gel covered and the spot light could be colored with any gel color too.

[narmour]

I like this a lot. There's loads of spooky old barns near me which would benefit from this treatment!

[Frank Schmidt]

Go for it, Narmour.

I always ask permission before shooting old cabins at night so the "law" doesn't get on me about trespass.

I found it helps to spend $5 at Walmart to print off an 8X10 glossy of the best shot and give it to the barn or cabin owner as a good will "Thankyou".

Just a thought.

Frank Schmidt - Fine Art

[DelCan]

Very impressive!

[dece62]

I really like this photo! It looks awesome with the light in there and I may have to copy this idea sometime!