Night Photography

Picker

Hi guys, it will be well appreciated if you guys can help me with this: ive been given the task at work to find a better way of taking photograph at night of road signs. The ideal solution would be to take a photograph, which is comparable to one taken during the day.

these are some of the problem we are having: The issue we have is that when we get the context correct I.E. the background visible the sign just goes white with reflection. When we get the sign OK, we cannot get the background.

I would note that the signs are made of a class A reflective material, which ensures that when a motorists headlights shine on them the sign reflects. This is all very good, but does not help for taking photographs. your help would be very much appreciated thanks ao lot.

dynamik

What kind of camera are you using?

Are you using a flash?

Try it without the flash with a long exposure time (you'll need a tripod or something else to keep it still).

Also, polarizing filters can mitigate glare/reflections (but only to a certain extent), so you may want to try adding one of those to your lens as well.

dubbs112

I would suggest going to a home depot or something and getting one of those little aluminum clip light fixtures for like $5 and using it.

They are really cheap and work great for fill lights.

Ricka182

Because of the reflective coating, using a camera with a flash won't work too well. You ned a fill light, preferably one with flat light to illuminate the surrounding area. You don't want the light pointed directly at sign, or you're still get some reflection. You should be able to clearly see in front of, and upto 10 feet behind the sign for a good image......

RussS

I had to do some road sign photography a few years back. All was done with film, but the principles still apply long exposure and no flash.

Here is a quick primer on night photographyhttp://www.photoxels.com/tutorial-night-photography.html

Picker

Thanks a lot guys especially to you RussS it does work perfectly thanks

Paul Boz

You can also illuminate the sign with a flash light or spot light and take a photo with standard exposure and no flash. This reduces the margin of error for blur. Either way works nicely