How would I set my camera up to do this?

[ChrisN]

Hi.
I have been given access to an old broken down farmhouse that is around 200 years old. I am not allowed inside, for obvious reasons but has some interesting shapes outside as well as the way the building is settling into the land it has a weird shape to it.
Anyhow, what I would love to do is (during the day) take a long exposure of the front of the house, with my wife in the front door in a long flowing dress and then during the time the shutter is open have her move behind one of the pillars (to simulate a remnant of the past).

Now, I have the following questions:
1) Does this sound like an interesting idea or just someone trying to be overly creative (I am the least creative person you will meet, so I might be trying to over compensate here) :lol: ?
2) How would I set up my camera (S50) so that I don't completely overexpose the image and still be able to hold the shutter open long enough to get the "ghostly" shot? Obviously a tripod would be necessary.
3) Would it be better to have her in the shot for a second and then disappear or be gone from the picture at first and then appear for the last second or so?
4) Am I in way over my head? I have only about 100 pictures taken under my belt in my life and am reading like a madman to understand everything I can... :)

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

[PhotosGuy]

There are some ideas here:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31590

[DocFrankenstein]

I'd photoshop it.

[Ken Fong]

If you don't have a Photoshop method, maybe try a neutral density filter to extend your shutter time? This might give you a ghosting effect; however, I'm not sure if the S50 will stay open as long as you want, plus I'm not sure how you would mount the filter.

Also, it might be possible to hand hold and operate your flash to 'paint' the subject, once when she is near, and again when she is far...but I think this would only work in a dimmer situation.

[IndyJeff]

I would shoot it in lower light than daylight, maybe at dusk. In daylight you will not get a long enough exposure to give her that ghostly look without overexposing it. If you do it at dusk, or shortly before you may be able to get in a 1-10 second exposure rate and get good detail from the house and her moving thur the frame.
I would have her stand behind the pillar, click the shutter and then have her move across the porch very slowly, something like 8 foot per second. You can experiment with her movements and don't try to force anything to fast. Everymotion should be gentle, like a ballet or something.
Now if your wanting a clear shot of her before she moves, have her stand perfectly still, like in mid step, and count off to her and have her move on a certain count.

I like the concept. Experiment and post some results.

[velvetjones]

If you want a good ghost effect you might want to try simply doing a double exposure and having her in one of the shots only...or move and be in two different positions in each shot. Wait...you can't do that if you have a digital. Opps. If you ARE still using film like me, that would work well.

You would want to make sure that you under expose each shot by a stop too...and I think black and white film....or greyscale would look the best.

Or...if you shoot on an overcast day with a 50 or so ISO and use a ND filter, you should be able to get pretty slow with a small f-stop. Sounds like a cool idea...I think it can be done to your satisfaction.

[stopbath]

Double exposure with digital camera is quite easy with digital editing... Same as sandwiching two negatives, but with far more control.

Benefit of using digital for double exposures is the fine tuning you can execute.

I would try to shoot a few ghost shots (as darkness falls) but also shoot a few empty shots, to allow editing in the ghost later... (Shoot the ghost on a black back ground, then add her in where you want, with as much see-through as you want...)

A second or two (maybe more) exposure time should be good. Allow her to move some of the time to get a blur to her image (maybe walking towards the camera, to the left, into the frame....)

[G3]

Make two normal exposures. One with her in the photo, one with her not in it. Add the second photo to the first one as a layer, then adjust opacity until she looks as "ghostly" as you want her two, then merge the layers. Done.