Jeff Wignall's "The Joy of Digital Photography"

Neon Signs: In Search of the Lost Art

I don't know if neon sign making is a lost art or just one fading (sorry for the pun) because business owners can't justify the cost of it anymore, but the more I look for good neon signs the fewer I find. I guess that's why when I see a great sign I have to stop and photograph it. In fact, I keep a notepad in my car and if I'm out driving and find a great example but can't stop, I make a note to go back and shoot the sign later.

The motel sign here was found in Norwalk, Connecticut and it's one of the best motel signs I've ever seen--and certainly the last great piece of neon art on the Boston Post Road in Norwalk. Photographing the sign was simple--I just took a matrix meter reading and shot at that exposure, bracketing here and there by one stop (over and under) just to be sure that I got a useful frame. I shot in RAW too so that I could play with the exposure and saturation even more in Photoshop CS3. I really didn't do anything to this shot though--it's almost exactly as it came out of the camera.

I'd love to organize a nationwide traveling exhibit of photos of neon--it seems like we're letting a great piece of American art slip away. In fact, I'd love to start a "save neon" movement and try to protect the great signs that remain. For now though, I'll just make sure I do stop the car and get the photos while the signs are still there to shoot. You do that too. For more on how to photograph neon, visit the night photography tutorial on my main site or pick up a copy of my new book Exposure Photo Workshop.

By the way, if you happen to have any great shots of neon, email them to me and I'll post them on this blog!

Sparkler Photos: A Fun Summer Project

Here's a fun project for a hot summer night: buy a few boxes of sparklers and enlist the help of a creative friend to do some light tracings after dark. The technique is really simple and requires only a few extra accessories, namely a tripod and some form of cable release (either a manual cable release or an electronic remote release) that lets you lock the shutter open.

With the camera mounted on the tripod and the shutter locked open (you'll have to set the camera to "manual" exposure mode), just have your friend light a sparkler (it helps to have a second friend handy for that part) and then draw shapes in the night. In this case I had my friend Sarah draw a peace sign--and amazingly she got a perfect one on only the second or third try.

There is a complete step-by-step tutorial on how to take sparkler photos on my site.

By the way, most camera manufacturers make wireless remotes for their cameras, but if you happen to own a NIKON D-70, D-50, N65, N75, Coolpix 8400, 8800, Pronea S, Nuvis S or Lite Touch Zoom cameras try contacting George at Ingram Technologies. Ingram makes remotes that have ranges that are up to four times longer than Nikon's (60' as opposed to 15').