I've been telling myself for ages that I'm going to take a couple of hours out, head out into the sticks and do a beamshot comparison of a selection of my lights. So I'm after some advice.
Firstly, kit. I've got the bulk of the camera gear sorted - Canon 70D with decent tripod, suitable lenses, the usual range of trivia needed for night photography - and I'm familiar with using them. I've just ordered a cheap extra tripod to mount the flashlights on. I've also ordered this - it looks like it's designed for mounting GoPro's on bikes but should work reversed with the right adapters, using the 'handlebar mount' to hold flashlights. Only slight concern is diameter - it'll accommodate the biggest light, but I might need to rig something up to hold the smaller ones.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01KFUSXEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've also got a ballhead with an Arca Swiss mount fitted - I may end up using that on the new tripod if the head it comes with isn't up to scratch.
How does that all sound?
Next, technique. I can manage the nuts and bolts of night shooting but I'm less sure about compositional elements - do I look at having camera and flashlight at the same level, in line horizontally/vertically, offset somehow? And any tips around what sort of focal length to use?
I've seen some photo's taken from a few yards back (so you can see the flashlight and tripod setup rather than just the head) - is this worth doing?
Anything else it's worth me considering?
The more I know ahead of time the less chance I'll stuff something up when I'm out there. I do plan to take a tablet to review the photo's as I take them, but until I get the camera connected at home and trawl through the contents I won't be sure I've got what I was aiming for.
