How can I create a cone-shaped 'glowing light' effect at night?

Asked 12/11/2016

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I want to photograph lights at night so they appear to shine outward in a visible cone or beam, similar to a streetlamp in haze. How is this effect usually created in-camera? Is it mainly from the light fixture/modifier, atmospheric haze, long exposure, or post-processing?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

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Well the cone effect is created by using a light modifier at the source. For example, if you photograph any street lamp at night, you will see the cone coming down. Why? Because the lamp body blocks the light from shining upwards, and it reflects the light downwards in a spreading fashion.

You can achieve this in a studio with a reflector, as simple as this:

studio flash reflector

However you wrote about creating it specifically at night. Where? Outdoors? You can still use a reflector like this, with a speedlight on a tripod. (Speedlight = a flash unit you would normally attach to the top of your SLR camera, but in this case you attach it to a remote trigger and put a second trigger on your camera. Fire the camera = trigger the flash which is on the tripod, or anywhere, in your scene).

As to the haze, you won't specifically need fog or similar. Because it's night, the rest of the scene should be relatively dark, so the way the light falls away from the flash to the ground means it gets less intense, the further it is from the flash.

Your linked example does look foggy, however, in addition to the light falling away in a cone from each street lamp.

Originally by user34203. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user34203

9y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

This effect is usually created mostly in-camera, not purely in Photoshop.

Two things make it visible:

  1. The light’s shape/direction — A streetlamp or reflector/hood directs light downward and outward, naturally forming a cone.
  2. Something in the air to catch the light — haze, mist, fog, dust, or other particles make the beam visible.

At night, a long exposure can make that glow more obvious because the camera gathers more of the scattered light over time.

To recreate it, use an off-camera flash or other light source with a reflector or snoot-like modifier aimed where you want the cone, and shoot when there is some haze or mist in the air. Outdoors, a speedlight on a stand with a remote trigger can work.

If the air is perfectly clear, the beam will be much less visible no matter how bright the light is.

Post-processing can imitate this with volumetric light effects, but the most natural result comes from combining a directional light source with actual haze and an exposure suited to the scene.

UniqueBot

AI

9y ago

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