[atomicpenguin12]

hey guys, heres the deal. I'm taking part in a school picture contest and I wanted to do a picture of myself glowsticking to get that awesome glow effect. the problem is, all of the pictures look like shit. the biggest problem is that no matter what I do, the glowsticks get really dim when they spin. also, my good camera singles out the frames to that you don't get the cool trail. please, can anyone tell me how they take pictures like this? the contest is over friday.

[jareblue]

u need 2 have a long exposure setting on ur cam.. possible modes = fireworks, night, natural light.. or if u have a manual option u should b able 2 set shutter speed.. no flash of course.. and a tripod or a friend w/ a steady hand helps a lot 2..

[ukeyouee]

if you have access to a cheap blacklight that also might help the glowsticks flouresce more - sometimes you can get "blacklight bulbs" cheaply at places like spencers, sometimes even home improvement stores...

[atomicpenguin12]

what exactly do you mean by "long exposure"? because I think I messed with that some and it didn't help.

[SpinnableDreamS]

or go with the black light thing and get some neon poster board wrap it around the glowsticks should be brighter than standard glowsticks. or get u some ultras. but the camera shutter speed thing is critical i dont really have the best cam for pics but does lett me get some trails. long exposure means the shutter is open for longer cathcing more action and longer trails

[ukeyouee]

long exposure can mean minutes. I usually shoot print film, not digital, but the way you do a similar thing with print film is to adjust the length of time that the shutter is open - a manual/bulb setting means that the shutter will stay open until you close it. I've shot up to 20 minute exposures to capture good trails on low light shots...you can also try upping the size of your aperture to get more light into the camera (although that will give you trade offs in color quality) If your camera has a black and white setting, try getting your light levels/contrast set in black and white first, then switch back over to color - you'll get a better sense of the contrast and trails that way. Good luck!

[atomicpenguin12]

okay, little update. I found a setting on my camera that records video footage with a dramatically decreased framerate and brightened colors. in short, exactly what I needed. so I finally got the pictures I need. I'll let you all know if I win.

[ukeyouee]

yay! just tell your camera to do your evil bidding! (I have a good friend who says that to technology a lot and it usually works!)

[jareblue]

Originally Posted by atomicpenguin12

okay, little update. I found a setting on my camera that records video footage with a dramatically decreased framerate and brightened colors. in short, exactly what I needed. so I finally got the pictures I need. I'll let you all know if I win.

u should totally post up those pix.. would love 2 c em..