How to shoot kid in glow in the dark pajamas??

[ChristinaVia]

Hi there,

Hope someone could help me with this. I have 3 girls in pink glow in the dark skeleton pj's. The pic just isn't as cute as it could be if it was in the dark. I have a 20D with the kit lens it came with which is 18-55mm. I think it is an f4. I also have a fixed 50mm lens that is an f1.4. I've tried a couple different settings and can't seem to get what I want. Anyone have an ideas or experience with this type of shot? Any help would be much appreciated.

Christina:)

[Maxxum5]

My guess would be to compose the image using the 50mm. Have them pose and HOLD the pose! Shut lights off and take the photo using about a 5, 10, or 20 second rule out method until you get the look you wish. I would set camera to f/2.8 and ISO 200 or 400, the take the 5, 10, or 20 second exposure.

I am no "lights out" expert, but if you don't have a shutter release, make sure you set the camera on a tripod with 2 second or 10 second timer to eliminate camera shake. Have fun! Welcome to the forum....and don't forget to post the little goblins photo afterwards......

[ironchef31]

Can you post what you tried so far so we can get a better idea?

[RAWuser]

normally, pink glow wouldn't glow as well as the green glow -- it loses its charge very fast and pink glow are usually not very bright either. this makes for a (very) low light situation and it would work the best if the camera and the lens are set in manual mode. Maxxum5's suggestion is spot on and should give you a better luck with your pictures. (personally, i would put the aperture around f/4 or so to make it a little easier to archive focus/sharpness). experimenting is the key here.

in addition to what Maxxum5 said, there's a couple things to try:

one;
use another flash unit to charge the glow stuff right at the moment before tripping your 20D shutter. Any thing that flash; external flash unit (push the test button), Halloween strobe(set this on fast -- ought to give a good charge), used/old disposable camera with a flash, old 35mm point & shoot with a flash (shoot it empty), but not your 20D's flash (that would obviously light up the scene).

two;
2nd thing to try is to break out the black lights. black lights work very well with anything that glow in the dark (especially the florescent tube type). that should be tons of fun for all. :)

good luck!