I had a great, though spooky, nighttime adventure a few days ago in and around a pair of old potato cellars. I almost didn’t make it out though, because my large lights lost their power when I was way down in the end of one cellar. It was pitch black and I hit my head on an old potato piler. I’m sure glad I did not have to spend the night in there alone. Who knows what may be living there? This cellar has obviously been abandoned for several years and now holds old retired equipment.  It was a blast to photograph! My car was not even very close by, since I had walked a while to get here. So I don’t think anyone would have found me for awhile, if I had blacked out when I hit my head. In any event I had some fun shooting some great old farming equipment. It brought back good memories our farming days, though I don’t think I will go back again alone.

I used a tripod and set up a long shutter speed of about 30 seconds for each shot. Then I used some very large spotlights to paint the light in around the scene. I had some fun editing these images in post production with Photoshop and Nik software to give them a grungy look.

On the first image, I used my own style of Light Painting which combines HDR and Light painting just after sunset, during what I call the “blue hour.” I combined three bracketed exposures, with a long exposure light painting. What do you think?

Caryn Esplin - Twin Cellars Sunset - Caryn Esplin Style HDR+Light Painting

Old Truck Tires - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin

Old Potato Piler - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin - Idaho Potato Cellar

Old Potato Piler in Black and White - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin - Idaho Potato Cellar

Old Potato Farming Equipment - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin - Idaho Potato Cellar

Old Potato Cellar-Piler - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin - Idaho Potato Cellar

Idaho Potato Cellar at night - Light Painting - Caryn Esplin - Idaho Potato Cellar Series