Photo #1 – Dinosaur in Cabazon
Dinosaur at Cabazon - 30 sec - f/8 - ISO 200 - 40mm
After leaving Tustin and heading out, the first stop was Cabazon where some huge dinosaurs have been hanging out for a while. For our first shot we decided to go very simple and used an LED video light to light up the big T-Rex (Mr. Rex as it is called). With a long 30 second shutter speed the video light provided plenty of light while not overpowering the internal “dino-light” that lights up the mouth and eyes. A long shutter speed like this, when not using flash, absolutely requires the use of a tripod to ensure a sharp image.
A long shutter speed was also needed in order to pick up the stars in the sky. A short shutter speed would have left the image with a completely black background where the stars help to balance the image.
Lighting Diagram
Excuse my poor drawing talent but the above lighting diagram should give you a feel for how the lighting was achieved. The light source was a 126 LED Video light. While not designed to light a 65′ dinosaur from 30′ away, the 30 second exposure was able to burn in enough light to illuminate the subject quite nicely.
Additional Information about the Cabazon Dinosaurs
- Weird California – http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=109
- WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabazon_Dinosaurs
Photo Project 24 Images
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Love the schematic dude…looking forward to seeing more from the trip!
At what time of day was this shot?
It was shot at about 5:30am
How come when i do a 30 second exposure at night, i get star trails already. but in your shot, they are perfect
am I too close to the equator or something being in florida?
I wish I knew, we are still experimenting with that
Hi David, this is Chris. We kind of researched that exact question. We had tried in a different shot to get light trails with no success. 2 factors that can come into play, are focal length, which kind of makes sense. A longer lens focal length will make a difference. The other is actually the direction you shoot. Has something to do with the rotation of the earth. At least thats the conclusion we came to. I would love to hear if that is the case.