# Help with lume shots.



## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

Hey guys new to the photography forum. But , I've lived in affordables for some time. My question is how to get a good shot of the loom. I just bought a T3i yesterday and am figuring it out still. But I can't for the life of me figure out how people get such great shots of their lume without photoshop. 

Any ideas?


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## J_Hack (Dec 17, 2008)

It depends on what you want from your shot.

Like this...









For a shot like this you need a pitch black room. This was taken in my interior bathroom at midnight and is almost an hour long exposure. I set my shutter speed to 'bulb' and cheated by using a rubber band to hold the shutter for so long. Camera was on a tripod.

Or something lighter where you can see the details of the watch also? If this is what you want I suggest charginng your lume and taking a couple second long exposure during the day where you have minimal light.

You really just need to play around with your settings if you are not familiar with f-stop and shutter speeds. There are a bunch of little things you can do to make a big difference in your photos.


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

J_Hack said:


> It depends on what you want from your shot.
> 
> Like this...
> 
> ...


Exactly what you described! Thank you


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## jekostas (Jan 26, 2013)

Right...

Okay, spending and hour in bulb mode is an excellent way to ruin the sensor on a dSLR. Really not a good idea. Sensors are not like film, they are electrical components that function when current is passed through them and they aren't really designed to be kept activated for more than a few minutes at a time. People who use dSLRs for astral photography are generally outdoors (where it's cooler) or use cooling solutions such as this one: CO2 DSLR Cooler for Astrophotography

You also don't need an hour, fancy equipment or even an expensive camera to get a good lume shot. What you *do* need is a tripod and a camera that can focus well in low light (most cameras have low-light focus assistance lights these days). Other than that, just charge the lume for 5-10 minutes under a light to increase the contrast.

This was done with a Canon Elph 310HS on a $5 knock-off gorillapod. ISO400, 1 sec exposure, just used auto mode with a +1EV exposure adjustment. It also helps if you put the camera on a 2 second time to make sure you don't shake it while the picture is being taken.


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

Well guys here is what i came up with. Using a ten second shutter delay. THoughts?


IMG_0483 by H3RRINGTON, on Flickr


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## althaur (Nov 24, 2008)

Looks like you did a good job.


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## jekostas (Jan 26, 2013)

Pretty darned good shot.


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks guys. I think ill be finding myself here more often. Just looking through some of the shots you all have taken has me drooling. And that macro shot thread is full of beauty and a wealth of information. 

I've got a C ward speedhawk inbound when it arrives I'm going to give "focus stacking" a shot next. 

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## nimbushopper (Nov 3, 2007)

I took this shot a few days ago using low available light through the window at 7;30am at f16 and a 20sec exposure. During the exposure I painted over the watches with a small uv light( which activates the lume.


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

I just captured this guy.

It's the shot I'm most proud of so far.


Low Light Lume by H3RRINGTON, on Flickr


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

nimbushopper said:


> I took this shot a few days ago using low available light through the window at 7;30am at f16 and a 20sec exposure. During the exposure I painted over the watches with a small uv light( which activates the lume.


Now that is impressive. Nice shot sir! And nice collection as well.


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## WWII70 (Mar 4, 2012)

i-phone, watch held under my desk with the room light on.


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## deerworrier (Mar 30, 2012)

i generally use full manual and a f32 with 30sec for nice exposure then you can use a torch or desk lamp to play around with highighting areas of the shot until you are happy. i have actually just finished these 2
View attachment 1028298

Kazimon Nautilus II with f32 30sec and torch pass from the top for a brief moment.

View attachment 1028300

Hexa K500 f32 on bulb with a 1sec exposure to my desk lamp from other end of room:roll:

i played around for about 20min to get these so with more time and adjustment you can achieve great shots.


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## Runaque (Feb 5, 2013)

Just out of hand with iPhone 5.


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## jekostas (Jan 26, 2013)

Runaque said:


> Just out of hand with iPhone 5.


That is a fantastic shot with a cellphone camera - well done!


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## Runaque (Feb 5, 2013)

Thanks! It's also an excellent phone and this is also the reason why i upgraded from a 4 to a 5, it's superior in dark circumstances in compare to the 4.


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## vimaljonn (Oct 1, 2012)

I am new (well I don't spend a lot of time online) as well. I found this forum as I am trying to sell my watch, meaning I also need to get good lume shots of it. Here's what I'm going to try and if anyone else wants to try it and post the results, that would be great!:

Mount your camera on a tripod, Have the watch in a room where you can dim (or turn off) the lights. Focus on the watch face and get a good shot of it (with lights/flash ON). Now, turn off or dim the lights. DO NOT TOUCH THE WATCH OR MOVE YOUR CAMERA. Now, take another shot. So in short you are taking the same photo of the watch (with and without lume). Use photoshop to superimpose the two images so not only can you see the lume, but you can also see the rest of the watch. Like I said, I'm going to try it tonight and post pictures.


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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

vimaljonn said:


> I am new (well I don't spend a lot of time online) as well. I found this forum as I am trying to sell my watch, meaning I also need to get good lume shots of it. Here's what I'm going to try and if anyone else wants to try it and post the results, that would be great!:
> 
> Mount your camera on a tripod, Have the watch in a room where you can dim (or turn off) the lights. Focus on the watch face and get a good shot of it (with lights/flash ON). Now, turn off or dim the lights. DO NOT TOUCH THE WATCH OR MOVE YOUR CAMERA. Now, take another shot. So in short you are taking the same photo of the watch (with and without lume). Use photoshop to superimpose the two images so not only can you see the lume, but you can also see the rest of the watch. Like I said, I'm going to try it tonight and post pictures.


You don't need to do all that. All that can be done in camera.

Just set it up on the tripod. Have a light source that is dim. Like a partially shut closet. Then set the exposure time or whatever to 10 seconds. It soaks up that light and you can still capture detail and a bright lume.

Plus, no need for photoshopping.

Imo photoshopping anything you are trying to sell is partially dishonest. I know that isn't your intention. But if ya can't do it in camera ya shouldn't use it to sell it. I won't buy a used product if it appears photoshopped. I've bought before from a shopped picture and when it arrived I noticed much more desk dive marks than in the pic. Just bugs me to no end.

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## H3RRINGTON (Dec 13, 2012)

Also, I'd avoid using direct flash. If you have a exterior light source or diffuser awesome. But a flash directly on your subject can really take detail out of your subject. Or can cause the dial to look like fourth of july lmao 

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## vimaljonn (Oct 1, 2012)

H3RRINGTON said:


> You don't need to do all that. All that can be done in camera.
> 
> Just set it up on the tripod. Have a light source that is dim. Like a partially shut closet. Then set the exposure time or whatever to 10 seconds. It soaks up that light and you can still capture detail and a bright lume.
> 
> ...


Oh, I had to take pictures of the watch anyway. I wanted to put the picture here. I ended up not using photoshop except to reduce the image size and save as JPG. I set the camera to 15 seconds, in a very well lit room. Then turned the lights off for half that time. It came out decent.


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## vimaljonn (Oct 1, 2012)

The second hand moved a bit due to time lapse but it came out decent.


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## althaur (Nov 24, 2008)

Here's a couple of shot I did with my phone.


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## althaur (Nov 24, 2008)

Dang! Hit the wrong thing. Here are the shots.


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## MadMex (Jun 18, 2010)




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## Jayemmgee (Jul 13, 2018)

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## jbholsters (Feb 5, 2018)

One of the easiest ways I know of it to blend several shots into a composite in photoshop. Take a pic under the lighting conditions you want the watch exposed at, then (without moving anything) take another shot and expose for the lume. Import the photos into photoshop as layers, have photoshop align the layers, add a mask to one shot, and paint the lume onto the other photo.


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## Pallet Spoon (Nov 24, 2008)

jbholsters said:


> One of the easiest ways I know of it to blend several shots into a composite in photoshop. Take a pic under the lighting conditions you want the watch exposed at, then (without moving anything) take another shot and expose for the lume. Import the photos into photoshop as layers, have photoshop align the layers, add a mask to one shot, and paint the lume onto the other photo.


I believe that is called stacking. The easiest way to get a decent lume shot is with a cheap point and shoot with a manual mode to set the shutter. That avoids the issues you end up with like the shallow DOF from the use of a dSLR and really leaves little to be cleaned up in photoshop or whatever your brand of post processing software is.


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## ekeyte (Sep 25, 2020)

jbholsters said:


> One of the easiest ways I know of it to blend several shots into a composite in photoshop. Take a pic under the lighting conditions you want the watch exposed at, then (without moving anything) take another shot and expose for the lume. Import the photos into photoshop as layers, have photoshop align the layers, add a mask to one shot, and paint the lume onto the other photo.


This is a pretty good recommendation. It seems like you could get a bit more light and detail on the watch face that way. I am going to try this.

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## jbholsters (Feb 5, 2018)

ekeyte said:


> This is a pretty good recommendation. It seems like you could get a bit more light and detail on the watch face that way. I am going to try this.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It works really well. lets see some when you are done.


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## jbholsters (Feb 5, 2018)

Pallet Spoon said:


> I believe that is called stacking. The easiest way to get a decent lume shot is with a cheap point and shoot with a manual mode to set the shutter. That avoids the issues you end up with like the shallow DOF from the use of a dSLR and really leaves little to be cleaned up in photoshop or whatever your brand of post processing software is.


It's like stacking, but you are actually blending layers via painting and masking.


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## ekeyte (Sep 25, 2020)

jbholsters said:


> It works really well. lets see some when you are done.


Yeah, I'll post one. I'm going to experiment with one tonight or tomorrow night. Can't wait to see how it comes out.

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