Lantern photography Night lights

Patrick Foto shares how he captured this beautiful lantern scene

Night photography, especially capturing glowing lights at night, is an area that throws up both delights and worries for many photographers. Doing justice to magical night-time scenes such as this sky lantern release at Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is a technical challenge worth pursuing, though – as you can see from the sense of wonder Patrick has captured.

“For sure, for these sorts of images you need to use a higher ISO,” Patrick explains. Using a high ISO to capture enough of the light to make a striking image is key, and was his main focus in this image. Patrick adds that modern camera technology means that even at high ISOs, you shouldn’t get too much noise. “I used ISO 1,600 in order to get enough light and to use the proper shutter speed. Shutter speed is very important, as the picture will blur if you use a lower shutter speed. For this picture I used 1/80 sec to freeze the motion of the lantern without any blur or movement. I also used 24mm, which was the widest angle that I had.”

As well as the camera settings, Patrick carefully considered how to compose this shot. He crouched down low – “almost lying on the floor” – to frame the shot. “I sat under the lantern to capture the aspect from below,” he says. “I wanted to get a clear photo and to have the hands holding the lantern in the front and all the launched lanterns floating upwards in the background.” As a commercial photographer, Patrick didn’t want people’s faces in-shot, as he would have needed them to sign a model release form. Instead, he focused just on the hands as they waited in a moment of anticipation to release a lantern.

“I love that this picture has two dimensions, which are awaiting the lantern’s release in the front and the other released lanterns in the background.” www.500px.com/pat138241