Spreading a Little Sunshine* (Patreon)

*The above photo shows an old manure spreader that was once pulled by horses. Pioneer farmers used the spreaders to fertilize their fields, and often used the pun that they were "spreading a little sunshine."

Which of these two images do you like best? Both of these photos are "Twilight Blends," or exposure blends of a the foreground taken during the Blue Hour twilight, blended in Photoshop layers with a longer exposure of the Milky Way, taken during the Astronomical Dusk. The difference is that the second photo also has a glow under the old manure spreader, in the form of accent lighting. That Low Level Lighting was added in a third exposure, during the Astronomical Dusk.

This and many other "Low Level Lighting" (LLL) techniques are explained in the attached PDF article that I wrote for the book, "Secrets from the Stars" (a hardcover book revealing the secrets of eight award-winning night landscape photographers).

This article covers:

• The differences between LLL and regular light painting
• The benefits of LLL over regular light painting
• How Much Light is Needed for Low Level Lighting
• Lighting Placement
• Controlling Light Evenness and Quality
• Calculating Your Exposure
• Omni-directional vs. Focused Lighting
• Bounce Lighting and “Reflective Projection”
• White Balance
• Long Distance Lighting Techniques
• Lighting Ethics

ENJOY!