PhotoPills, National Parks at Night Partner for Two Masterclasses

As most of you know, we love the PhotoPills app. It is packed with tons of useful information for photographers. We use it to plan locations from home, scout the stars during the day, figure out exposures, calculate hyperfocal distances, visualize star trails and much, much more.

Earlier this year Chris Nicholson wrote a great article on “The Many Ways That PhotoPills Helps A Night Photographer,” which zeroes in on several key features that are essential to his workflow. Tim Cooper always says that PhotoPills is the best $10 investment he’s ever made in photography, and the rest of us definitely agree.

Yet PhotoPills is much more than an app. The team behind it also offers a lot of education to support their mantra of “Imagine. Plan. Shoot.” Why? Because their goal is to help people become better photographers.

National Parks at Night embraces that same philosophy, and we have partnered with PhotoPills often to collaborate. In 2018 we invited Rafael Pons, also known as The Bard of PhotoPills, to speak at our very first conference, the New York Night Photography Summit, and he also spoke at our Night Photo Summit online conference in 2021 and 2022. We’ve even run four PhotoPills Bootcamp workshops, with a fifth coming next year. 

This past May, Chris and I were instructors at PhotoPills Camp, a much-sought-after international gathering of PhotoPillers hosted on the Mediterranean island of Menorca, Spain. It was an amazing experience, and we finally met the entire PhotoPills family on their home turf!

Shortly thereafter, Rafael invited Chris and I to present as part of their Masterclass series on YouTube. Both of those masterclasses were livestreamed in the past two weeks.

I spoke about star trails and Chris taught about how to photograph lighthouses at night. We are very passionate about these subjects and have been honing classes about them for years. But given the chance to speak on the PhotoPills Masterclass platform, we knew we had to share every bit of information we knew, and then some. So we hit the books, pushed the stars and lighthouses beyond anything we had tested before, and voila!

Both classes are now posted on the PhotoPills YouTube channel for you to watch at your leisure.

It was a great thrill to see so many friends and workshop alums among the livestream visitors (thank you!), and we’ve been enjoying reading the positive comments in the chat.

Please leave any questions you might have in the comments for each video. Chris and I will be monitoring them for the next few weeks and want to make sure you are ready to Seize the Star Trails and Lighthouses in the near future.

What other night topics are you interested in learning more about? Drop them in our comments below and #staytunedformore.

Gabriel Biderman is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. He is a Brooklyn-based fine art and travel photographer, and author of Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots (Peachpit, 2014). During the daytime hours you'll often find Gabe at one of many photo events around the world working for B&H Photo’s road marketing team. See his portfolio and workshop lineup at www.ruinism.com.

---

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Nights, Camera, Action! 5 Videos from Gabe and B&H to Help You Photograph the Dark

We all thought it was really cool that a recent episode of Game of Thrones was shot for 50 straight nights. While not as epic as that, I recently spent the last six months creating a “Night Photography Series” of videos with the amazing crew at B&H Photo.

The videos were shot in the cold and snow of Maine, the urban ruins of Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Alabama, as well as throughout New York City. We thought we’d organize them all in one place so you can easily learn with us. They cover a lot of topics, from camera settings to gear to light painting and more.

While the series was created for people new to the night, we think everyone can find a few helpful reminders and tips in each installment. The videos are fairly short, from 6 minutes to 20 minutes. Good lengths to get inspired to #SeizeTheNight!

(Special shouts out to Kelly Mena for proposing this project, and to Robert Sansivero who did a fantastic job filming and editing.)

Best Camera Settings for Night Photography

In this very snowy video, I discuss the night logic behind making certain choices about ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance. It all leads down the path to mastering manual mode so you can take control of your night visions.

How to Photograph Star Trails

When most of us think about night photography, we think about the stars. In this video I give tips on making those jaw-dropping star trail shots, both in-camera and by stacking them together in post.

How to Light Paint

Once you’ve focused on the stars, we step it up and gain a better understanding of adding light to a night composition. I look at the gear you need to capture, the light painting tools to create, and how to balance the ambient light with the additional light you bring into the scene. Get inspired and more comfortable with your light painting!

Create AMAZING Photos with Light Writing

I turn out the lights, don my favorite black fedora, and take a look at a bunch of fun tools that make writing with light fun and easy. I share my top tips, I do a live demo, and I break down some of my favorite images to show how you can bring a very unique vision to the night.

Best Cameras for Night Photography

In the last video, I compare the current batch of full-frame mirrorless cameras, looking specifically at which features best suit the night photographer. There is also an extended, 1-hour version wherein I compare similar images shot with different cameras in the same conditions, allowing us to really gain a better understanding of what these bodies are capable of producing.

And … Cut!

Let us know if you find these videos helpful and what subjects you’d like us learn more about next. You can type out your thoughts in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page.

Finally, fun fact: I wear a different hat in each video!

Gabriel Biderman is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. He is a Brooklyn-based fine art and travel photographer, and author of Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots (Peachpit, 2014). During the daytime hours you'll often find Gabe at one of many photo events around the world working for B&H Photo’s road marketing team. See his portfolio and workshop lineup at www.ruinism.com.

---

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

How I Got the Shot: Lighthouse Beams at Fire Island

View fullsize

Fire Island Lighthouse. Nikon D750, Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens. Nine exposures at 1/2 second, f/2.4, ISO 6400.

The Location

Lighthouses are the great sentinels of the sea and their true souls shine at night.

The northeast U.S. has some of the most famous lighthouses in the country. They’re mostly in New England, but here in New York we have a couple of noteworthy examples too, including the amazing Fire Island Lighthouse at the western end of Fire Island National Seashore.

We shot here a few times last fall, including twice with attendees of our New York Night Photography Summit. I created the above image on one of those nights.

Well, perhaps I should say I created this image partly on one of those nights, and partly at my desk at home—because this technique involves a fair amount of post-processing, which is what this installment of How I Got (er … processed) the Shot is all about.

The Shoot

The Fire Island Lighthouse has a rotating beam. When a lighthouse has a rotating light it gives us more opportunities to depict the beams at different widths, depending upon the length of our exposure—i.e., a longer exposure will capture more of the beam as it moves, thereby making the beam appear wider in the image.

So the first thing to consider is shutter speeds. For the Fire Island Lighthouse I experimented with everything from 1/4 to 4 seconds. The 1/4 exposures resulted in very narrow beams of light; the 1/2 exposures were obviously wider, and also (naturally) resulted in fewer beams to stack in post, and both those trends continued as the shutter speeds got longer. Each exposure generates a different interpretation of the lighthouse, so I always suggest exploring your shutter speeds first so you can figure out what works best for you.

View fullsize

You can see in my test shots how the width of the rotating lighthouse beam changes with longer shutter speeds. In these examples, 1/8 resulted in the narrowest beam, 1 second in the widest.

Once I settled on 1/2 as my favorite shutter speed, that determined my aperture and ISO. Of course, shorter shutter speeds at night generally mean you need to push the envelope on the other aspects of the exposure triangle—shooting with a wide-open aperture (f/2.8 or wider) and a higher ISO (3200 to 6400). These combinations will generally allow you to capture bright beams of light as well as adequate detail in the lighthouse structure and the foreground.

View fullsize

Another image of the Fire Island Lighthouse from the same night. This one is composed of 1/4-second exposures, which resulted in the narrower beams of light. Nikon D750, Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens. 20 stacked frames shot at 1/4, f/2.4, ISO 6400.

Once I was happy with my exposure—i.e., beams that are bright but not blown out—I set my camera to burst mode. To prevent camera shake, I used a cable release (the Vello Shutterboss II) to fire the shutter. I kept my finger on the remote’s trigger until the beams did a full rotation around the lighthouse. (If you need to take another longer shot for more detail in the foreground, you can do that as well.)

Once I captured the assets, I was able to blend them in Lightroom and Photoshop to get that multiple-beam effect.

The Processing

Processing all of those raw images together into the final version is not terribly complicated, but involves a few steps and some finessing. So we’ve put together this video to show how I brought the photograph to completion.

In the video I talk about everything from the planning to the execution to how to put it all together in post.

Wrapping Up

If you live near or are planning to visit a rotating-beam lighthouse for night photography, we highly recommend giving this a go. It’s a fun technique that can generate some very dynamic images.

When you do, please share your work! We’d love to see your photos in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

Note: Did you like that video, and think you’ll like more? Consider subscribing to the National Parks at Night YouTube channel to get notified about all our new videos when they come out.

Gabriel Biderman is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. He is a Brooklyn-based fine art and travel photographer, and author of Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots (Peachpit, 2014). During the daytime hours you'll often find Gabe at one of many photo events around the world working for B&H Photo’s road marketing team. See his portfolio and workshop lineup at www.ruinism.com.

---

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Up Next: National Parks at Night on YouTube

If you’re reading this, then you’re familiar with our blog and all the different kinds of information and instruction we try to offer every week of the year. It’s part of our mission—to spread knowledge of night photography and of the beautiful places in our national parks to practice it.

That mission doesn’t stop at this blog. We of course offer that same sort of information on our workshops, in our CreativeLive course and at our speaking engagements.

But there’s yet another place where we talk about these topics. On our YouTube channel!

We’ve so far produced and uploaded almost 30 videos. The topics include how-to guides for working in the field and in the digital darkroom, slide shows of our workshop students’ photography, information about the places we travel to, tips for journeying to dark landscapes, equipment reviews, night time-lapses and more.

Although we’ve been producing such content for nearly the entire time National Parks at Night has existed, we’re barely out of our video infancy. We have plans to grow in this area, to provide more and more educational and informational offerings in the months and years to come.

In the meantime, we invite you to check out below what we’re offering so far.

What do we do?

We made a short video explaining why we do what we do, why we love doing it in national parks, and what to expect on a workshop.

Education

Deep dives into specific topics on night photography, before and after pressing the shutter release.

Student Slideshows

The final slideshows from all of our wonderful workshop students. What an amazing body of work.

In-Depth Gear Reviews

We can’t make photos at night without gear! So we make videos about things we find particularly useful or helpful.

Fun Vignettes

Night photography is about more than just learning. It’s also about fun!

Events & Lectures (playlist)

We do a lot of public speaking at shows, events and local camera clubs. Here is a fantastic playlist chock full of unique presentations crafted just for you.

Want to see playlists featuring a particular National Parks at Night instructor? The links below include videos from other channels on YouTube (such as B&H) where you’ll find even more free ways to learn from us. 

Gabriel Biderman

Chris Nicholson

Tim Cooper

Matt Hill

Lance Keimig

What else?

What’s on your YouTube watchlist? How-to videos? Your next dream park? Adorable cats? We work hard to bring you quality video content in addition to what we write here on the blog. So why not drop by our National Parks at Night YouTube channel and see what we have to offer? 

If you like what you see we’d really appreciate if you:

• Subscribe

• Like

• Comment

• Share

By doing the above, you’ll get first notice on new video content, and also give us more info about what you like or what questions you have. (Thanks!)

We love making videos. But what do you want to see that we haven’t made yet? Drop us a line here and let us know what interests you.

Thanks for watching! We’ll see you on YouTube, or at a park or event near you.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

---

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

A Day of Night: Talking Stars and Light Painting at the B&H Event Space

A few days ago Matt Hill and I were hosted by the B&H Event Space, one of our very favorite places to present. The people who run the space are fantastic to work with—always warm, welcoming, helpful and professional in every degree imaginable. Moreover, the Event Space attracts an impressive array of audience members—from beginners to expert pastimers to consummate professionals—who come armed with infectious enthusiasm and a passionate curiosity to better their craft.

(Attendees also included a few of our former workshop participants; it’s always great to see and to catch up with them.)

Matt and I demonstrating why we love Coast flashlights above all other options. Photo courtesy of B&H Photo.

It was “A Day of Night at the Event Space,” comprising two presentations, which were livestreamed to a combined audience of over 25,000 viewers (thank you to everyone who tuned in!). Both talks included some of the topics we teach on our workshops, along with over 75 photographs that we’ve made during our adventures under the dark skies of America’s national parks.

We wanted to share what we talked about with you, the readers of our blog.

‘Shooting Stars: How to Photograph Night Skies’

Me talking about starry skies while surrounded by National Parks at Night logos. Photo courtesy of Klaus-Peter Statz.

In the first presentation of the afternoon, I talked about how to get started photographing stars. Some of the topics covered were:

• gear

• white balance

• exposure

• the 400 Rule

• composition

• star trails

• star stacking

• lens condensation during long exposures

• software options

• and more

You can view the recorded version of the livestream here  (jump to 4:56 for the beginning of the presentation):

‘Illuminating the Night: Everything You Want to Know About Light Painting’

Matt and I demonstrating the right and wrong way to paint with light. Photo courtesy of Klaus-Peter Statz.

In the second presentation, Matt and I teamed to talk about one of our favorite topics and one of the favorite techniques on our workshops: light painting! Topics covered were:

• building a light painting toolkit

• light painting vs. light writing

• determining a base exposure

• the three kinds of light

• direct vs. diffused vs. reflected light

• angles of illumination

• color and color temperature

• low-level landscape lighting

• collaboration

• and more

You can view the recorded version of the livestream here(jump to 1:20 for the beginning of the presentation):

Come see us!

We hope you enjoy watching these presentations, and that you can take away a nugget or two of knowledge that help as you venture into the night with your cameras.

Between the five of us here at National Parks at Night, we talk pretty regularly at the B&H Event Space, as well as at conferences, trade shows, camera clubs, podcasts, etc. If you’re interested in attending any of the events where we lecture, see our Speaking Engagements page for a schedule of where we’ll be next.

And if you want several days’ worth of this kind of information and instruction, be sure to sign up for any of our upcoming Workshops. ;-)

Chris Nicholson is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night, and author of Photographing National Parks (Sidelight Books, 2015). Learn more about national parks as photography destinations, subscribe to Chris' free e-newsletter, and more at www.PhotographingNationalParks.com.

---

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT