A different twist dubbed SIT

[Ralph E. Powers]

That is a good way to "paint" but your light(s) need to be bright enough and it takes practice and a tripod with a cable-release (does anyone use those anymore?)

yep - i had to ebay mine, actually, they're kind of a pain to find. but i've been getting into moonlight photography and that sort of thing is basically impossible without a sturdy tripod, a cable release (or one of those fancy remotes), and having a mirror lock function on your camera.

calculating the exposures can be a bit of a crapshoot though - i'm used to "doing the math" with a wide aperture and then stopping down and mulitiplying in my head; but in most situations with little to no artificial light, you can't even get a solid reading off the camera's meter so it's often guess-and-test (within a certain range).

Well in this day and age of Digital photography you're lucky that a nice sized memory card can allow you to take dozens of shots of one area with different exposures... Ask Peter Bosted or any other well known cave photographer how many thousands of pictures they took (starting out) on regular film before they realize this f-stop and that apature, this slave here and that light there and this caver here and that caver shouldn't move and so on and so on... sheesh. But their later works proved well worth it!

[Jeff Bartlett]

agreed - digital SLRs accelerate the learning curve tremendously. i find myself attempting shots i wouldn't have dared with my old film SLR, and learning how to make them work on the fly.

[Realms]

Yep Ralph the cable releases are still being used. I built my own caver rated versions.

xcathodex- Thanks for showing an interest in SIT. You are the proof of one of several reasons it was developed in this way. With just a few of these modules you can photograph dang near anything. Start up cost is low, learning curve is low, creative ability goes up. There are just a lot of cool things about it. I will be the first to say that it is by far no perfect system for all situations. Since time is the major factor of SIT, you wont be able to use it for action shots of folks moving around, climbing ropes, etc. However at the same time that very limitation turns out to be a plus in other areas, now it becomes easy to show motion such as rushing water, cascades among other things. You now have the ability to compose, light, and preview a scene before ever touching your shutter button. True SIT can be used in "Painting" and it does it very very well. Just remember SIT is not painting. It is the sustained illumination of something. In most of my examples the light units were never moved during the shot. Since this technique has absolutely no hot-spot, you don't have to worry about keeping the light in motion the way an undiffused spot would require.
Now if you choose to Paint with SIT, you will get a look all its own. SIT acts as an area light. Coupled with motion it gives a rather unique look to a scene. Every time I go caving and use it I try something new.
Another nice feature of SIT is the awesome color reproduction. You just need to do it to fully understand it. Quite amazing. All from a little LED.
I'm working on material that I will post to my site on the subject soon. Till then keep shooting!

Nathan

below is a recent one. We used 3 fixed SIT modules and one in motion to soften the shadows.

[Jeff Bartlett]

that's a great shot - the first thing i noticed is how natural the dynamic range is. no blown out highlights and the contrast is a little more realistic than most of the cave photos i've seen.

it's almost like an entirely different subgenre of photos. much in the way taking a photo at night with city lights for illumination is different than taking a photo at night with just the moon for illumination (and with a similar effect on exposure length, methinks).

oh, and obviously the cost is a factor for me as i'm just starting out caving. i don't want to have to choose between, say, a remote flash unit or a good helmet =)

[FiddleCaver]

I recently put together something similar to this and I noticed that the luxeon K2 LEDs have some kind of silicone material for the lens. Even though they were in a pelican case, the lens eventually got rubbed around enough that it started to fall off. I made a few more with Cree LEDs that were actually much brighter than the K2. The Crees have a glass lens so they held up much better. Realms, I believe I read somewhere that the SSC LEDs also have the silicone lens. Just a little heads up, if you're using SSCs you may need to be a little extra careful.

[Realms]

I got the glass. I also use a removable emmiter cap during transport in the pelicase
thanks for the heads up though. Im looking at the SSC's now.

Nathan

[VACaver]

Nathan,

Any chance of providing instructions on how to make SIT lights?

[Realms]

simple instructions will be on the site very shortly
Also complete modules will be avalible for purchase if you choose not to build you own.

I had a presentation to give on SIT at the convention but a last minute change in work and a back injury prevent me from getting up there. I am very bummed about it right now and hope I will get another chance to present it. Perhaps at the 08 convention. If anyone here was planning to see it I am deeply sorry that I was unable to make it.

Nathan

[Realms]

Here is a pic taken near the top of Mt Olympus in Tumbling Rock. The big formation is the Pillar of Fire. I had been wanting to get some images of that for a while now so yesterday 3 of us set out to do just that. For this image 5 SIT modules were used. Exposure time was about 20 seconds. Most images you might see of this area are typically shot from the top of the slope for a good reason. The slope is about 60 degrees at the location of the tripod making it very very difficult to stand there and work a camera. But it was fun. Very fun. Thanks for the great trip Sabrina and Tim. "Tim...do you smell something?"

[MUD]

Another great shot Realms! That SIT technique is the bomb....I've been gettin' some way cool pics and will be uploadin' them soon! Thanks again fer the tips!!!

[adleedy]

VERY NICE REALMS!

[Wormster]

Hey check out this link below:

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/album/Dark-Pla ... owhere=%2f

(sorry for the long url)

most of the shots were done using stenlights and a gas discharge divers light.

My personal favorite is this

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage?f=/c ... Image-002/

work out how its done.