Shooting in a park after dark

 Well there I was setting up my camera at the Alderfer Ranch Barn near Evergreen. I had visited this open space park many times for MTB and hiking. The last time I visited I noticed how nicely the MW "might" line up with the barn as a foreground subject so I set out to make a plan. 

Alderfer Barn + Milky Way

The thing with a plan is you don't know if you'll discover some issue with a location. In my case I was anxious about there being a light on the barn or in the parking lot that would wash out the Milky Way. You can't know these things always in advance so I ventured up there about 40 minutes from home unsure if I'd get there and turn around if there were too many obstacles or negatives that I had yet to discover. But, I did have a plan.

I recently received a new Lumecube Panel Go RGB and intended to put it through its paces. The barn seemed like a perfect subject to do some light painting if it needed it.

I went in with a plan, worked it up in Photopills and have an idea of when the Milky Way would be lined up nicely with the barn - that was about 9:40pm - 2 hours after sunset.

I got there and it was a windy ~50, but once I got all set up the wind died down and was calm. The barn was there are had no annoying outside light - Perfect! This was even better than I imagined and I eagerly dived into taking pictures. 

I maintained a low level of stealth because in the back of my mind I figured I probably should not really be here after dark. (More on that later)

With excitement growing inside I eagerly set up a tripod for the Lumecube and found it to be too bright even at 1% Level. What is amazing is how dim it looks on the subject, but with an 8sec exposure the SONY A7 3 catches a lot of that light making it really bright. I could just make out the Milky Way as it rose above Green Mountain to the southwest. It at first looked like a stray cloud, but after a test shot I could see the MW even with the house lighting spread across this mountain town.

So this shooting was the first time out with this large of a subject and I had only used my first Lumecube Panel Go (white, not RGB) a few times. I'm new at this light painting! I didn't know how to work it all and was learning as I go. Do I need the second Lumecube to light the side of the building? My shooting of the barn had the Lumecube up close on a tripod. I experimented with placement, but somehow it didn't seem to throw enough light where I wanted it unless it was up close. Also I think my eyes were adjusting to the dark as night fell upon me and the barn.

Finding the best position was another thing I struggle with. My photopills plan indicated I should stand directly in front of the barn, but I the barn then blocked a lot of the core. After a bit of experimentation I found the best situation of barn + MW + trees - off to the left side. 

I went through a range of the colors (from 1-360) running back and forth from camera to Lumecube - trying through a range of ROYGBIV plus other colors I liked (I ended up with about 10). I think I could have been more efficient if I just set up some interval shooting, but whatever. My flow seemed to be working and the shots I reviewed in my camera were looking pretty cool. At any rate I had a pretty good set of pictures.

Once I had gone through the color range tests I decided upon a warmish orange glow for the barn seemed to look best - around the lower range: 1-7 looked good. It was at this point that I decided maybe I could move the Lumecube back in line with my camera and BOOM is started to look really good AND the Lumecube wasn't showing up in my shot. This seems kind of dumb now, but when I first tried this it didn;'t seem to throw enough light on the barn so some learning happened alojg the way.

I took only a couple of pics before this annoying car pulled in to the parking lot. A cop. Yikes. But my camera is taking really nice pics now! Am I in trouble? Wait, he's shining his light across the field, but he doesn't see me or my Lumecube. 

• Cut the lights and remain in stealth. 
• Maybe he will go away and I can continue. 
• Maybe I should go up and reveal myself. 
• Maybe not! 

Well in the end I decided I would wait for 5 minutes and see if he scoots off and then leave myself before I get caught. So I took some time and quietly reviewed my shots and they looked good. Just as I decided he wasn't going to leave and I need to go talk with him; he left. I had grabbed my pack and gear and stayed out of sight. Once back at the car I discovered I had a warning and the next time would be $100! 

Lessons learned:

1. Maybe the greatest lesson I learned was to be open to change, not let myself stay locked in to the plan.
2. Find your best shooting location as quickly as possible. That includes the Lumecube location, but only after you have the camera where you want it. 
3. Position Lumecube in line with camera location like perpendicular.  
4. Find a color you like. People I've shown the pictures to seem to like the natural look better than weird exotic colors - so kind of like 1-7 to match the color of the old bare wood barn.
5. I stationed a small flashlight under my tripod so I could find it in the dark. It's surprising how dark it is out there.