Jeff Engelhardt
Prairie Home Companion-less
This shot is for Mr. Jim Drought III, who has referenced Noel Kerns a few times in comments. Noel, Troy Pavia, and a number of others have been huge influences. While I've been very slow to increase my skill at the artificial lighting, these guys were the ones that helped me understand just how amazing moonlit photography can be.
While often the moonlight alone makes for undeniably interesting pictures (particularly with landscapes) the artificial lighting often used by Kerns, Pavia, and the other UE'ers on abandoned human artifacts is very subjective, usually a love it or hate it thing. Whether or not you like the look, one thing I've found is true: it is very much an art. It demands a lot of patience, experience, and skill. If you've ever tried studio portrait work, you know what can be involved in arranging the lights, modifiers, angles, and settings. In that environment, you snap a picture and get instant feedback, then adjust. Out here, not only are you now dealing with colors, but with lengthy exposures. An experiment in how you might want to light something is a 5 minute investment (doesn't seem like much until you think about studio portraits, where you often run 20-30 instantaneous "experiments" before you get the right look). I'm getting there though. Very, very slowly . . .
Prairie Home Companion-less
This shot is for Mr. Jim Drought III, who has referenced Noel Kerns a few times in comments. Noel, Troy Pavia, and a number of others have been huge influences. While I've been very slow to increase my skill at the artificial lighting, these guys were the ones that helped me understand just how amazing moonlit photography can be.
While often the moonlight alone makes for undeniably interesting pictures (particularly with landscapes) the artificial lighting often used by Kerns, Pavia, and the other UE'ers on abandoned human artifacts is very subjective, usually a love it or hate it thing. Whether or not you like the look, one thing I've found is true: it is very much an art. It demands a lot of patience, experience, and skill. If you've ever tried studio portrait work, you know what can be involved in arranging the lights, modifiers, angles, and settings. In that environment, you snap a picture and get instant feedback, then adjust. Out here, not only are you now dealing with colors, but with lengthy exposures. An experiment in how you might want to light something is a 5 minute investment (doesn't seem like much until you think about studio portraits, where you often run 20-30 instantaneous "experiments" before you get the right look). I'm getting there though. Very, very slowly . . .