[localmotion411]

These pics make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Wish there was a way to post tube SMELL!

 

[Mr.Sneis]

What f/stop and shutter speed are you guys using?  Pitch black room?
 
 

 

[nikongod]

Totally dark room helps. If you dim incandescent lights enough that you can see the tubes glowing well the color temperature from the bulbs gets kind of warm and ugly - by the time you correct for the ambient light you loose all of the color in the tubes! If you have LED lights your pretty much a pimp so feel free to ignore me. 
 
I follow a method something like this:
 
Totally dark room.
 
Use a LONG exposure on a tripod. Set F-stop to get good depth of field, and shutter speed so that the glowing heaters are well exposed. I snap a few pics without flash to set this part of the exposure. F8 & 10seconds @ISO100 sounds like a good starting point but please dont quote me unless Im right
 
After you have settled on an exposure time & F-stop hold a flash somewhere off to the side & above and trigger it manually to get the body of the amp and the shapes of the bottles. Experiment with different distances & locations from flash to amp to get a pleasant exposure & highlights here. Don't bother with leaving the flash on the camera - you will get results 1000 times better holding it off to the side and triggering it manually and thanks to the epic-long exposure time you can safely fire the flash manually. 
 
You can use a VERY cheap flash here, no need for anything really fancy if you don't happen to have a nice flash. 
 
It does take a bit of experimentation to get a nice pic, but once you do it a couple times it becomes easy as habit and the results are SO worth it. 

 

[Mr.Sneis]

Thx for the tips NG.  I still can't figure out how to fire my flash separate from the body, will have to look into it!!

 

[FullPuku]

Great shot of you relaxing in the chair, a wee whiskey by your side. A perfect evening I think. (A reply that was supposed to be attached to post 44, RhythmDevils)

 

[mikenike]

 
Schiit Lyr
ƒ/8.0 — 71.0 sec — ISO 100 (to keep down the noise)

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

 
Schiit Lyr
ƒ/8.0 — 71.0 sec — ISO 100 (to keep down the noise)

very cool. wish i could take photos like that lol
 

 

[the_equalizer]

That was a GREAT explanation nikongod. Reminded me of chapter 7 "Artificial Light Photography" from Ansel Adam's "The Negative". I'll definitely try the technique soon.
 
cheers!

 
Quote:

Totally dark room helps. If you dim incandescent lights enough that you can see the tubes glowing well the color temperature from the bulbs gets kind of warm and ugly - by the time you correct for the ambient light you loose all of the color in the tubes! If you have LED lights your pretty much a pimp so feel free to ignore me. 
 
I follow a method something like this:
 
Totally dark room.
 
Use a LONG exposure on a tripod. Set F-stop to get good depth of field, and shutter speed so that the glowing heaters are well exposed. I snap a few pics without flash to set this part of the exposure. F8 & 10seconds @ISO100 sounds like a good starting point but please dont quote me unless Im right
 
After you have settled on an exposure time & F-stop hold a flash somewhere off to the side & above and trigger it manually to get the body of the amp and the shapes of the bottles. Experiment with different distances & locations from flash to amp to get a pleasant exposure & highlights here. Don't bother with leaving the flash on the camera - you will get results 1000 times better holding it off to the side and triggering it manually and thanks to the epic-long exposure time you can safely fire the flash manually. 
 
You can use a VERY cheap flash here, no need for anything really fancy if you don't happen to have a nice flash. 
 
It does take a bit of experimentation to get a nice pic, but once you do it a couple times it becomes easy as habit and the results are SO worth it. 

 

 

[daigo]

Quote:

That was a GREAT explanation nikongod. Reminded me of chapter 7 "Artificial Light Photography" from Ansel Adam's "The Negative". I'll definitely try the technique soon.
 
cheers!

 


 

 
One thing I'd like to add is to remember to turn off stabilization on your lens when using a tripod as that can cause some vibration while taking a long exposure. 
 
 

 

[Zombie_X]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

 
 
 

Nice, nice, nice.
Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (And outside.)
Great shots! All of 'em.
 

 

[Zombie_X]

Thanks man! All my pictures were taken from a cheap $40 digital camera.
 
Quote:

Nice, nice, nice.
Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (And outside.)
Great shots! All of 'em.
 

 

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Thanks man! All my pictures were taken from a cheap $40 digital camera.

 
Great to know. I've had no success with a $200+ digital camera. Please tell, what is the make and model of your camera? Thanks!

 

[Zombie_X]

The camera is a GE A1251. Got it at RadioShack for $40 a while back.

 

[Slab]

While not a headphone amp, here are the tubes on my Budda Superdrive 18 guitar amp.