A twister hits Japan! Our first night out with a new toy we made. We are happy with the results and will probably post a tutorial on how we made it. We were hoping for a near full but found cloudy skies when we arrived at our first location which was the top of a dam located deep in the mountains. The reason we chose this was because we can access the top of the dam freely with out any security or fences to go through. The thought of a large unprotected dam anywhere else in the world other than Japan is crazy. Usually people are not free to wander around anywhere and especially at night. After a couple shots the skies cleared up and we decided to change locations to a remote mountain temple for a shot with the large torii or temple...

We get mails often asking us what lights we use to make out pictures. We use such a variety but the basics are here in the video below.

Light stencils are an easy way to add in graphic elements to long exposure shots. Basically, this is fired in the frame while the shutter is open during a long exposure. The graphic remains while the person and box is completely invisible. Watch the vid and make a box as directed. Using any illustration program print out your design onto fine grade paper which is slightly heavier than regular copy/printing paper. I print 2 and paste them together but make sure they are perfectly aligned by holding them up against a bright light source. I laminate mine so they can be reused as they often rip when removed or changed but this is not a necessary step. I usually set the flash to 1/8 which works well with the settings I use on my camera for...