Best way to do beamshots? Camera settings & positioning

[kuksul08]

I noticed a lot of people use different aperatures and shutter speeds for various beamshots. Is there supposed to be a standard?

Here are a few practice shots.... I know my apartment is too small to get far enough away to take a picture, and there arent any good blank walls. My camera is a canon powershot SD850. Suggestions?

maglite:

headlamp (soon to be upgraded):

The problem with these lights is that within 5 feet, they are plenty bright for any application, but then it exponentially fades out with distance :thumbsdow

 

[Yoda4561]

When doing comparitive beamshots on white walls, I normally take my brightest light and use spot metering on the camera, then lock in the aperture and shutter for the rest of the shots. Outdoors is more of a trial and error thing, I normally set the camera for aperture priority and take a few shots at different shutter speeds (normally with the brightest light) till I get something that looks like it does in real life, then lock in those settings and shoot the other lights.

 

[Yapo]

AFAIK there is no standard camera setting or positioning and it depends on what you want to show in the beamshot.

If your comparing beamshots of different lights it's best to keep the camera settings constant if possible which easy for people with SLR/DSLR but should still be possible to do with your camera by using the long exposure setting to control the exposure time/shutter speed.

If you cant keep the settings constant another easier way to take beamshots is to use another light as a reference to compare the relative brightness to.

But if your not doing any comparisons and just want to show the shape/quality of the beam, anything should be fine as long as it isnt overexposed (causing the hotspot to appear bigger/brighter) and maybe mention the distance away from the wall or object your shining it at and possibly tell us how much brighter/dimmer it looks to your eyes as a camera never captures a picture the same way we see it.

But if i were you i would probably try to elevate the camera and light from that balcony/fence or watever its called, as it's taking up nearly half the picture. Also beamshots dont have to be done on blank walls and sometimes it can be better to have everyday objects to use as a reference for size in the picture

 

[EV_007]

There is no magic bullet/formula for taking beamshots. Many variables exist, however here are a few that have worked for me.

1. Us a tripod
2. Set to manual exposure mode and use in that series of beamshots
3. indicate camera to subject distance in the description of the images
4. Use a common recognizable everyday object as target image lit up by the beams for reference

Also setting the ISO to the lowest yeilds cleaner images and better color saturation.

If you do not hae a remote cable release to trip the shutter, use the camera's self timer to minimize camera shake which can lead to blurry images while on the tripod.

OH, and outdoor beamshots tend to be more revealing than white wall indoor shots. Although, white wall shots are good for illustrating beam shape and tint.

 

[kuksul08]

Thanks for all the advice :thanks: