Beam shots with light pollution

[KingGlamis]

I've read on here often "I can't take beam shots near where I live because of the light pollution/ambient light, etc." Well sure you can. A beam shot is what it is. You don't need total darkness to take beam shots. I'm sure all of you don't say "I can't use my flashlight in front of my house because there are street lights." Duh. So I did a couple of beam shots with tons of light pollution just to show what I mean.

From my front porch taking a pic across the street. Lots of ambient light.

And these two photos... Hmmmm. I guess a flashlight actually WILL work for a beam shot even with TONS of ambient light around.

And in these two shots with the street light clearly visible, you can see that in fact there is a difference between abient light and flashlight light. Hmmmm again. I don't care what anyone says, shots like this definitely tell a lot more about a light's output than white wall shots.

The point is, you don't always use your lights in total darkness. In fact, most of us use our lights a LOT more in cases where there is light pollution. So what's wrong with beam shots that are real-world like the ones above?

 

[KeeperSD]

I agree, and when you think about it the situation that you have pictured in your photos is a lot more realistic for most people than a pitch black outdoor area.

I would actually really like to see a series of beamshots in this environment as certain lights seem to perform better than others with ambient light. Also add to that i would like to see some beamshots done at differing times of the day eg: dusk and after dark, as again i think these add new challenges.

 

[WadeF]

When ambient light is involved there is less control involved in the shots if the ambient light changes from beam shot to beam shot. I have done some beam shots lately in my back yard, with light pollution all around. I just make sure to lock in the exposure so it's the same for everyone shot so you can see the difference in the beam intensity.

For some lights, if you want to light up something at 700-800 feet, if the area you're trying to light up is already lit up, you may have a hard time seeing the beam. For this you may need to seek out a totally dark area so you can see the light from the flashlight, and not have it washed out by a street light, house lights, etc.

I'm not sure how populated your town is, or what kind of houses you have, but where I live most of the homes are 3 stories, so there are tall bulidings all around. We also have dense street lighting and a lot of lights on houses and other buildings. I also live on a fairly busy road so cars are always coming by. So the areas I can shine my light are limited, at least for longer range shots. Going out and shining my light down the street onto someone's home may not be received well as I could hit a car driving by, the home owner may freak out, police go by frequently and may wonder why I'm blasting someone's house, etc.

Most of the places around my house are bright enough during the night time hours that no flashlight is needed. I have to walk away from my house to find parts of town that are darker. I generally use my lights away from my home when I'm on walks, at my parents or in-laws that have places that have much darker surroundings, etc.

However, there is one area by my house that is very dark and I often use a light when I'm watering the plants and flowers at night time.

To give you an idea, I live in the middle of this, not as bad as the city, but not a lot of open area, unless you get up on a high roof. That might be fun to try, I have thought about blasting out one of my 3rd floor windows. Click to enlarge:



Here's a back yard beam shot for you, beam hitting the tree in the distance, this is about the farthest object I can hit that's dark, about 250-300 feet out, which is easy for most of my lights. I need a farther topic to really see and show what the throwers can do. That's when I need to go to another location.



Also here is a shot I took when there was a gun man in a house up the street and the SWAT team was on scene, very rare for my town BTW. Walking up the street, it's almost this bright, but the picture is a tad brighter than reality.

 

[Bushman5]

ah here we go again.....you pic showing "light pollution" is pretty dark. Only place i might darkness like that is about 5miles outta town, in an alley behind a forested rural area...

around these parts, the "darkness" outside is more like what WadeF posted, or even brighter....so no not everyone can do beamshots outside....:laughing:

This pic from WadeF is pretty much what my area of town looks night at 3 in the morning:

 

[KingGlamis]

I think maybe you guys are missing my point. For comparing one light to another, SURE, it's best to do so in a very dark area. But real-life isn't always very dark. In the pic above that shows a well-lit street, I still see several opportunities for beam shots. For example the trees, the back of the police truck, the yellow sign, etc. If you have a powerfull light it will show up in beam shots even with all of that ambient light. Which is all the more testament to having a bright light. So you could say "See, even with ALL OF THIS AMBIENT LIGHT my flashlight is still able to produce a decent beam shot."

I guess my main point is... beam shots do not have to be ONLY for comparing one light to another. Take beam shots anywhere and everywhere just for the fun of it and post your pics here on CPF.

Lots of people talk about how many lumens they have. Well lets see those lumens at work in real-life situations, not just in total darkness!

 

[jzmtl]

I think maybe you guys are missing my point. For comparing one light to another, SURE, it's best to do so in a very dark area. But real-life isn't always very dark. In the pic above that shows a well-lit street, I still see several opportunities for beam shots. For example the trees, the back of the police truck, the yellow sign, etc. If you have a powerfull light it will show up in beam shots even with all of that ambient light.

Shining a bright light at back of a police swat truck that was there for a gunman to begin with, I don't think that'll end too well.

 

[KingGlamis]

Shining a bright light at back of a police swat truck that was there for a gunman to begin with, I don't think that'll end too well.

Well Duh, I know that. But let's pretend it was just some random truck that was parked there.

 

[Bushman5]

I think maybe you guys are missing my point. For comparing one light to another, SURE, it's best to do so in a very dark area. But real-life isn't always very dark. In the pic above that shows a well-lit street, I still see several opportunities for beam shots. For example the trees, the back of the police truck, the yellow sign, etc. If you have a powerfull light it will show up in beam shots even with all of that ambient light. Which is all the more testament to having a bright light. So you could say "See, even with ALL OF THIS AMBIENT LIGHT my flashlight is still able to produce a decent beam shot."

I guess my main point is... beam shots do not have to be ONLY for comparing one light to another. Take beam shots anywhere and everywhere just for the fun of it and post your pics here on CPF.

Lots of people talk about how many lumens they have. Well lets see those lumens at work in real-life situations, not just in total darkness!

fair enough, your right, we do use our lights in a mixed lighting environment, most of the time........

 

[WadeF]

I know we're all debating this topic of beam shots, but I do see King's side of it and how he enjoys just pictures of beam shots in action, in the real world. Not for scientific or comparision reasons, just for the fun of seeing a beam, even if it's brighter than it is in real life, or whatever. I think that has it's place just like white wall beam shots have their place, etc.

Here's one for you KingGlamis that I hope you enjoy. I often drive to and from the inlaws, so I like to take some back roads where I often see deer. You will probably have to click on this image, and then magnify it again on Picasa's web viewer to see the deer in the spot.

 

[FASTCAR]

Im a few miles from NYC. I get asked constantly for beam shots. There is so much light pollution here that often I can catch a football thrown from 50' away....at 12 midnight.It simply is not dark here.


I was camping up north on the coast.This sight is at least 40 miles from the nearist small city.Let me tell you it was DARK.

Beam shots would have been fantastic.


At home facing NYC, There is a full time 30+ lumen glow.Its insane.For those in the country, your have NO idea how bright it is.

Some spill from some lights will NOT show up at all.

This is why I wont do beamshots personally.