Painting Baobabs

We spent 3 hours one warm night at Elephant Hills Hotel at Victoria Falls just playing with light.

We took the camera and tripod with us on an evening walk after dinner around the beautiful Elephant Hills resort.

With a young baobab as a focal point, we started to experiment with torches and long exposures. Painting the tree with light.

All of these used a similar pattern:

Canon EOS 30D

Bulb

f/22

Between 30 and 70 second exposures

ISO 500

Stacey tried her hand at some torch writing, with limited success at first, but it does have an ethereal, ghostly feel about it.

We ensured the tree was not illuminated and she got better as we progressed.

Finally, the kids managed to create the perfect picture to headline this post, if you choose to ignore the backwards S.

We then asked whether we would be able to take a single exposure picture of us in multiple places at the same time?

We followed this simple approach.

Firstly, ensure complete darkness and with your camera on a sturdy tripod, use the bulb setting and start the exposure with a cable shutter release. Then take up a strategic position and get your support team to shine a torch on you briefly. Stay very still until the torch is off and then move to your next position. The support team will again light you with a short flash of the torch and then move to your next position. Repeat as many times as you wish.

You will also need to "paint" the focal paint (the baobab) with the torch to ensure it remains the central feature.

All of these used a similar setting:

Canon EOS 30D

Bulb

f/22

150 to 180 second exposure

ISO 500

We started with Stacey and Tristan, with some freaky results.

Especially for Tristan in this one, who you can barely see due to Stacey's time travel photo bombing.

Stacey and Tristan time travel Photo bombing

Then Tristan gave it a go on his own and got the back-to-back thing spot on, but his high five double was unfortunately out of shot.

Back to back Tristan

Alison and I first tried a complicated triple play that was clearly not choregraphed appropriately.

Then we posed elegantly for a double play with some degree of success but with an overexposed white out on the foreground pic.

If a man could be two places at one time, I'd be with you

Not the best quality pictures but loads of fun with a family who didn't know they loved photography.