bigshot

Photographing a Racetrack at Night with the Help of 1,800 Light Painters

Since 1987, the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has done an annual nighttime community photo project called RIT Big Shot. For the the 31st event held this past weekend on October 3rd, the school set out to create a photo of the Churchhill Downs that shows the iconic Kentucky Derby track at night.

How do you go about lighting a giant racetrack at night? Well, RIT enlisted the help of 1,800 volunteers to help light paint the scene. All external lighting was provided by the volunteers using flashlights, electronic flash units, and some high-end strobes.

Hacking an Old Polaroid Big Shot So That It Syncs with Modern Day Flashes

A lot of people love the "vintage look" in photography these days.

Of course, it's one thing is to capture it with the plethora of software readily available -- or by applying "vintage filters" (like the ones on Instagram) to a digital image -- and it's another thing entirely to get old technology to work for us today and create photographs just like we would have done 30, 40 or even 100 years ago.

Bigshot DIY Digital Camera Teaches Kids About Electronics and Photography

We've featured build-it-yourself cameras before, but those DIY products aren't often suitable for children. One in particular was made entirely from 3D-printed parts, a DIY SLR for crafty adults that would be both fun and educational to make.

The Bigshot DIY digital camera kit was created with a similar goal in mind, only creator Shree Nayar came up with the idea specifically for children.