http://ngm.typepad.com/digital_photography/2008/05/shooting-stoneh.html
Ken Geiger is the senior editor for technology at National Geographic magazine. He joined the staff of National Geographic in 2004 after 24 years of newspaper journalism, most recently as the director of photography for the Dallas Morning News. Geiger now serves as one of the many photo editors for the magazine, helping to shape its editorial content and is also in charge of the magazine's conversion to digital photography.
Last year about this time David Griffin, National Geographic’s director of photography, and Elizabeth Krist, a senior photo editor, walked into my office and asked if I had any ideas on how we could photograph Stonehenge in a way that would be new and different. It was a natural question. David was already thinking about high-dynamic-range photography, and I’m the digital-tech guy at the magazine. I had an idea, but it came with a catch—I wanted to be the photographer, anything to get out of the office and into the field.
I thought I had a good idea, but the cosmic forces of serendipity didn’t want to cooperate. Not to mention that I wasn’t trying to concentrate just on making one good photograph of Stonehenge. I was trying to shoot a cover—ON MY FIRST NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ASSIGNMENT! Talk about turning up the heat in the pressure cooker!
Forty-two hours of all-night shooting time, and I had to leave with one triptych that wasn’t good enough to run in the magazine. I was bummed out.
Yet between the exposures with the Gilde camera I’d done a lot of experimenting with my 35mm equipment. I learned that the best angles of Stonehenge are shot from six inches off the ground, to minimize the security fence and the two highways that run adjacent to the site. I also discovered that light painting with one light didn’t give consistent results, and that trying to light-paint Stonehenge in less than a minute was nearly impossible.
Here is the final formula for the cover shot:
Hasselblad Flexbody with 15mm of drop dialed in to a Phase One P45 back, ISO was set at 100, the lens was a Hasselblad Distagon 40mm set at f11, there were 12 SureFire lights aimed at the stones which were on for about 12 seconds during the 15 minute total exposure.
Dressed in black, I then walked through the scene painting additional light on the stones to create some of edge highlights.
Ominous beneath a haunting moon, the age-old monument has spawned fanciful theories and dark imaginings. Victorians dubbed one fallen slab of rock the Slaughter Stone—a supposed place of human sacrifice. But there is no evidence that ritual killings ever took place at Stonehenge.
This scene (above) was composed of multiple digital images—a short exposure to render a dark night sky, and a long exposure (up to 30 seconds) to allow photographer Ken Geiger to move through the monument, "painting" it with light from his flashlight.
Update 2: The image (above) that’s used as the double gatefold in the magazine was shot at 11:19PM, using a little different technique than described for the cover. Instead of multiple lights, I locked the camera shutter open and then walked into the scene with a single hand-held flashlight. Hiding behind one of the stones, I then turned on the light and carefully painted a portion of a nearby stone in need of a highlight. With the full moon illuminating the site it was easy to walk amongst the stones. I repeated this process in about 25 different locations—all in one 15-minute exposure. I’m sure it was quite a sight; I defiantly kept the security guards amused.
If the Stones Could Speak --Searching for the Meaning of Stonehenge
By Caroline Alexander (National Geographic Contributing Writer)
Photograph by Ken Geiger (National Geographic Staff)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/stonehenge/alexander-text
If you’re interested in learning more about light painting, take a look at Dave Black’s web site. He’s a master of the technique and teaches at several workshops around the country.
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