r/pics • u/shatteredankle • Aug 26 '18
I went rock climbing tonight and tied some LEDs to myself to make a long exposure.
2k
u/RoundToZero Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
Really awesome work. Took me a while to even notice someone sitting there on the right haha
1k
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
Yup that's my belayer. You can see her blurred upper body working hard to keep up with me as I climbed.
505
u/edbgon Aug 26 '18
She actually stayed remarkably still considering. You must not have given her much trouble.
263
u/fullforce098 Aug 26 '18
EL5 belayers for us lazy fucks who never do things outside?
374
u/__AdamDNA__ Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
They pull the rope so it’s tight (but not extremely tight) while you climb. It makes it so if you fall you won’t fall too far.
402
u/Morkamino_Bones Aug 26 '18
And hopefully don’t shatter your ankle.
324
u/Gas_Ass_Trophy Aug 26 '18
Most people will probably miss it but look at OPs username
→ More replies43
52
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
Fell bouldering. The post-surgery-couch-time is actually what led me to getting so hopelessly addicted to this webpage.
18
u/oodelay Aug 27 '18
The difference between bouldering and climbing:
Bouldering: [BOOM] Then [SCREAM]
Climbing: [SCREAM] Then [BOOM]
→ More replies8
u/shatteredankle Aug 27 '18
I've always heard it as:
What's the difference between a golfer and a climber.
Golfer: [WHACK] then [FUCK] Climber:[FUCK] then [WHACK]
→ More replies11
→ More replies12
u/vcaguy Aug 26 '18
How do you get the rope secured on top before climbing it?
26
u/Orobin Aug 26 '18
Either climb up by an alternate route (more of a hike or something), or get someone to lead climb it (which means they clip in their rope to pre-existing anchors as they climb) and have that person attach the top rope once they're up.
10
3
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
If you zoom in, you can even see a couple anchors. Look at the points just before where the climber changes direction since you usually beeline to the next anchor after clipping in.
11
u/qwertyertyuiop Aug 26 '18
There are usually anchors (carabiners or metal loops) attached to the top of a route, but how you get the rope up there depends on where you are. Sometimes you're able to walk around to the top of the crag and run the rope through the anchors before you start. Otherwise you're lead climbing which means you're bringing the rope up with you and clipping it to the rock along the way so that if you fall you don't fall too far
→ More replies9
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
You've got some good answers here already, but in this case I just had my trained monkey put the rope up for me.
→ More replies44
u/mickstep Aug 26 '18
Belayers use a friction brake attached to themselves to use their own body weight to arrest a climbers fall.
The friction brake allows them to let out extra rope to the climber easily as they need it, but quickly apply braking force if something goes wrong.
→ More replies→ More replies10
100
u/Lord_Raiden Aug 26 '18
ON BELAY!
71
u/TheCrookedGull Aug 26 '18
BELAY ON!
50
u/moonshine_lazerbeam Aug 26 '18
CLIMBING!
→ More replies48
u/Kevtron Aug 26 '18
CLIMB ON!
9
→ More replies9
u/jackkerouac81 Aug 26 '18
Ah memories of repelling with boy scouts at Camp Steiner flooding back.
9
u/mlpedant Aug 26 '18
repellingrappellingunless you were attempting to stop the scouts from advancing.
→ More replies→ More replies3
→ More replies49
24
u/Volerikan Aug 26 '18
I already convinced myself that was a ghost.
17
u/jtr99 Aug 26 '18
That wouldn't be safe. Everyone knows ghosts are massless. How would she belay effectively?
4
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
If ghosts are massless, then how do they make floorboards creak?
→ More replies4
u/RichWPX Aug 26 '18
This is awesome but belaying sounds really really boring.
32
u/drinkallthecoffee Aug 26 '18
Life is boring. When you're belaying, you get to watch your friend climb and take a break. It's honestly more boring to not belay and wait for your turn than it is to belay because you're engaged with a task. And it's very engaging, actually, to make sure your friend doesn't die because you were day dreaming.
13
u/Cardinal_Ravenwood Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
It takes enough focus making sure you have enough run out to stop from pulling the leader off the wall and at the same time making sure there isn't a whole lot of slack in the line so if they do fall they take a big whip. That keeps it interesting. Well that and you also know it's your turn next when they get down.
→ More replies→ More replies6
u/ComaVN Aug 26 '18
Most routes are only about 20/30m, which takes at most about 10 minutes, so it's not too bad. Usually you'll alternate belaying as well.
46
10
u/markp81 Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
Only amateurs use a belayer! climbed a wall once at a theme park
Edit: seems I forgot the /s
→ More replies8
→ More replies6
u/Oxford_karma Aug 26 '18
Looks like she's the climber on the way to climb the lit trail. Could be titled Jacob's Ladder or Stairway to Heaven or some other cliche'. Really cool shot though.
You're a fast climber, too. What did that take you, 30-45 minutes? Maybe less?
→ More replies→ More replies20
540
u/mikkkogu Aug 26 '18
How fast were you climbing that shit, like 30 secs? Or the star trails are from another exposure?
820
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
105 seconds exactly. I took a 20 minute star trail exposure and a 20 second star exposure that I will edit in later to compare. I literally got done climbing, stopped to eat some Taco Bell, spent 5 minutes editing it, and then posted to reddit. I'll definitely spend some more time editing this.
Also, the stars aren't going to be that great because it was a full moon tonight. And also because this spot is only about 25 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.
31
u/shave_uk Aug 26 '18
You climbed this in 105 seconds? What is the height? Did you have pre-placed bolts and slings?
18
u/OEscalador Aug 26 '18
Probably top rope
15
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
It's top rope. You can see his belayer in the image.
7
u/OEscalador Aug 26 '18
I mean, you still have a belayer in lead, but it would be dangerous to have her sitting so far from the wall.
9
8
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
The routes only about 60 feet tall and this was the 4th or 5th time I climbed it that night so I had it pretty dialed.
I had already set up the rope at the top so on the way up all o had to worry about was the climbing.
257
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18 edited May 05 '20
[deleted]
→ More replies38
u/Ragglecraggle Aug 26 '18
You're not kidding. I had taco Bell a couple times this week due to busy schedules and needing to grab something fast. After not submitting my body to toxic hell for quite some time, I now have more gas propulsion than I've ever imagined. Pretty sure I've blown holes in at least two pair of underwear and cleared several rooms. Leaning toward TB being considered military grade propellant, or a chemical weapon banned by the Geneva convention.
→ More replies34
u/AScaryHomelessGuy9 Aug 26 '18
Doesn’t it feel great getting the shot right from the get-go, to where you hardly need to bother editing it? It’s just that good...honestly, well done!
18
u/xwakawakax Aug 26 '18
I can’t believe you climbed up that whole thing in less than two minutes. If it was laid horizontally, I don’t know if I could even walk that distance that fast.
→ More replies18
→ More replies4
u/abedfilms Aug 26 '18
Can you explain how you took this photo? You set up a camera on a tripod with a 2min exposure time? Then you do your climb for 2min?
Why is it that only the leds show up, shouldn't we also see you as a blur in multiple positions climbing up?
And is that you on the right? Or probably someone else sitting there the whole time right?
7
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
I set it up on a tripod, got the focus set and then put it in bulb mode with my phone connected as a remote trigger. In bulb mode you can hold the shutter open for as long or short of an exposure as you need. In this case, I had my belayer (the girl sitting on the right) open the shutter as soon as I started climbing and then close it as soon as I got to the top.
My belayer shows up in the photo because she was sitting relatively still for the whole photo. This gives the camera time to record what little light there is available to show her image. I, on the other hand, was constantly moving so the camera wasn't able to pick up enough light to show my image in any one spot. The LEDs are giving off their own light, which is plenty for the camera to record. So, even though they were moving with me, they show up in the image because they are much brighter than me.
Does that make sense? If you have any questions feel free to ask.
1k
u/Ghostshirts Aug 26 '18
Gimmie a cliff, some LEDs, and one more goddamn setback in my life, and I can create a similar picture using only a short exposure.
1k
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
That's dark.
Hopefully the LEDs will brighten your life.
236
36
u/thejeahster Aug 26 '18
Possible sarcasm aside; LEDs and climbing can brighten any person's path.
Get Out There
→ More replies30
71
u/serizzzzle Aug 26 '18
how ‘bout some LSD and a lawn chair? we’ll make something better :)
16
→ More replies10
84
u/PixelBrother Aug 26 '18
It’s never game over. Always another chance waiting around the corner, don’t miss out life.
Pls chat to someone and don’t hurt yourself, I’m a 20 something year old moron but send me a message if you need.
9
23
u/abearcrime Aug 26 '18
You should turn into a novelty account and throw a "and one more goddamn setback in my life" into every post from here on out.
→ More replies4
3
12
7
u/DonQuixotel Aug 26 '18
Let's talk about the setbacks. Work? Health? Family? Social life? Anything talking to someone might be able to help with? I'm here to listen, even if nobody else is. Feel free to PM.
3
3
3
u/Someone_asdf Aug 26 '18
Wow, congrats. I think this is the most creative and funny comment I've ever seen on Reddit. If it's some truth behind it, I hope you recover
→ More replies4
70
u/DreamSmuggler Aug 26 '18
Anyone else seeing the Infamous: Second Son neon powers here?
Looks pretty damn awesome
21
u/-saffire- Aug 26 '18
Agreed, the first thing I thought of was the running up walls ability with the neon power.
13
2k
u/BUNKBUSTER Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
That's really cool. Commercially viable cool. Call up Weiden & Kennedy, pay some bills. REI, if you're a member.
I may be niave on creative design, but I think you just invented something, and if not, innovated the hell out of something.
1k
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
Thanks man. Definitely appreciate the support.
I first took a photo like this 6 years ago with some glowsticks. It was actually my first or second post on reddit and it went to the top of the front page. Since then, I've taken a few more, including 4 that showed up on that google search that /u/muctxlosl posted.
This is the first one I've taken with LEDs and look forward to doing some more experimentation.
296
u/BUNKBUSTER Aug 26 '18
Color themes; triage green, yellow, red, up the hill. Your crispness set your photo apart, but that can be copied. The disney color pallete is nice but you did something they didnt. Cant put my finger on it.
116
u/NASAguy1000 Aug 26 '18
Im with you on the last part. There is something about it that just meshes. Definitely agree with the crispness. All in all i really dig it.
→ More replies51
u/Chinacat_Sunflower72 Aug 26 '18
Beautiful. But I hope the trails aren’t going to be full of lights now once everyone steals your creative idea.
→ More replies41
u/ccope Aug 26 '18
I think they are tied to the person in this, not strands left on the route if it’s waste you are worried about
41
u/Chinacat_Sunflower72 Aug 26 '18
I was thinking more about everyone wanting to hike with lights now. Night hiking with lights would surely somehow impact the nightlife, wouldn’t it? Like those neon signs screwing with bird migration.
25
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
That's a good point because the way we use lights fucks up a lot of animals instincts. For example there's these turtles that when they are born, they usually head towards the ocean, but in this specific area, they all head towards the city because they are drawn to the lights for some reason and obviously most of them end up dead and to my understanding the turtles in that area are almost all gone.
Sorry, I wish I had some references and more info but it's just something I remember reading on reddit like half a year ago.
30
u/mark90909 Aug 26 '18
If you think how long sea turtles have been on the planet for. Long before human light pollution. When they are born it is instinct to head towards light. Once this was the reflection of the moon on the sea. This helped them to navigate towards the water. It is thought this is how turtles return to the same beaches decades after they are first born once they reach reproductive maturity. Think now the present day. Light pollution from cities and hotels on tourist places where many of their nests are located. They go the wrong way. Inland where they die from exposure or are killed by stray cats and dogs, sea gulls, etc.
11
u/cappnplanet Aug 26 '18
Also, little hatchling born. Tries to go to the flashing moonlight ocean water. Instead goes to McDonalds.
→ More replies19
u/Cow_Launcher Aug 26 '18
You're not wrong. One example is the Leatherback turtles in Ft. Lauderdale. It took a while, but the condos were convinced to turn their exterior lighting down during the hatching season.
Here's a source explaining it.
→ More replies8
→ More replies4
u/BudIsMyBuddy Aug 26 '18
That’s pretty much every and any coastal town, I live by the coast in FL and they’ve retrofitted the lights with shields that focus the light down and away from the beach. Dont know how effective it is, but the lights are an issue i think because the turtles think it’s like the moon shining off the water, the light they’re really looking for to return home.
→ More replies8
→ More replies7
u/btveron Aug 26 '18
I can't see something like this having a negative impact on wildlife. The lights wouldn't be permanent fixtures and I also can't see there being an overwhelming amount of people night hiking with a bunch of LED lights attached to themselves.
→ More replies7
14
u/wobble_bot Aug 26 '18
A skateboard photographer did this at skateparks/skatespots. Can’t for the life of me find them though
→ More replies14
u/NapClub Aug 26 '18
nice light painting.
also i like that you included a ghost woman over on that ledge.
→ More replies7
3
u/stumpycrawdad Aug 26 '18
Fellow rock climber checking in, I'm doing this. You just started a trend
→ More replies2
150
u/HowIsntBabbyFormed Aug 26 '18
Am I the only one having problems parsing what /u/BUNKBUSTER is saying?
Commercially viable cool.
What's commercially viable? Making and selling some kind of LED wearable for climbing so others can make their own picture like this? Doing this as a photography business?
Call up Weiden & Kennedy, pay some bills.
Okay so they're an advertising agency, I guess you mean OP could make advertisements that involved this. But what bills would OP be paying here?
REI, if you're a member.
REI what? Make an ad for REI? Sell a product at REI? And what would it have to do with being a member? You'd only make an ad for them if you're a member of their loyalty club?
66
71
u/koffiebroodje Aug 26 '18
Nah man, I’m with you. No idea how this can be turned into advertising. Advertising what, exactly?
43
16
u/xxbliitzkriieg Aug 26 '18
It’d be a pretty fuckin cool ad in store/magazine to be fair, I think that’s what he meant
→ More replies3
u/hawaiiboi719 Aug 26 '18
Some businesses and/or corporations do pay people for their personal pictures and/or video to be used in the businesses' advertisements, especially sports/outdoor companies. GoPro does this quite a bit.
38
u/RadiantSun Aug 26 '18
No, I thought the same thing, like wtf is this person even suggesting? What should OP actually do?
"Hey Weiden & Kennedy, I have this really cool picture I took by attaching LEDs to myself and using a long exposure. Money?"
→ More replies10
u/hairway2steven Aug 26 '18
I think he means this effect could be used in ads - either as a static image, or maybe as a tv spot or social video. Imagine an REI logo bottom right and a headline about freedom and finding your own way.
→ More replies5
u/oceanicplatform Aug 26 '18
This style of photography could be valuable. It could make someone who knows how to do it some good money. It might be a style that an art director at an agency or an in-house marketing director would pay for.
For example REI might pay for an image or series of images to help them sell products.
Look at what Mammut does for similar shots e.g.:-
https://i.imgur.com/453kYkA_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&fidelity=medium
13
u/7LeagueBoots Aug 26 '18
It’s not a new thing, but it’s a very well done version of what many others have done.
45
u/MUCTXLOSL Aug 26 '18
234
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
4 of those top 10 or so photos are mine.
57
u/RoundToZero Aug 26 '18
You’ve cornered the market!
104
u/ablablababla Aug 26 '18
You're the most powerful person in the long exposure rock climbing industry
27
14
u/Qzy Aug 26 '18
The heart one is fucking nice.
2
u/offend__me Aug 26 '18
Shapes is a great idea! I am going to have my kids spell their names.
→ More replies9
u/offend__me Aug 26 '18
Even if you didn't invent it, you introduced it to tens of thousands of Reddit users. I still appreciate the heck out of you.
3
u/Mobitron Aug 26 '18
I love the heart at the top of the Valentine's piece. Ya did damn good on those, very nice.
→ More replies→ More replies5
→ More replies7
4
u/theribrob Aug 26 '18
Wieden and Kennedy will just take it, not pay you anything, and deny you ever approached them. Not just WK either, that’s pretty much standard behaviour for adland.
8
→ More replies5
u/Darkside3337 Aug 26 '18
Indeed. Like poi spinners, or fire breathers, not just characteristically caught in cheesy iPhone slow motion, but rendered with light and time over a 20 min free-wall climb. And it's fucking beautiful.
181
u/coolfluffle Aug 26 '18
This is refreshing for r/pics, no sob story title, no progress shot, no repost, this is a great photo! Long exposure makes for great stuff, well made OP :)
→ More replies34
395
u/AevilokE Aug 26 '18 edited Aug 26 '18
Dude I would gild you if I had the money.
Edit: lmao ty for the gold
Edit 2: is there actually a way to pass on the gold I've been given? Photo needs gilding.
152
u/foreverwasted Aug 26 '18
You can give them reddit garlic. Then they can use that to make some garlic bread which is way better than gold.
50
25
29
u/PNG_FTW Aug 26 '18
I don't know who is giving out the ironic gold but it amuses me every time
→ More replies→ More replies7
40
u/Lennon1004 Aug 26 '18
I can't fucking read. I read this as 'tried some LSD'
26
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
Same here. And then I looked at the photo and said "Fuck yeah you did!"
→ More replies9
u/mileseypoo Aug 26 '18
I just read your comment wrong and saw "I can't fucking read. I read this and 'tried some LSD'" I was thinking, cool story but a little off topic ...but then you are on LSD...so .
→ More replies
438
u/GarrulousCuriosity Aug 26 '18
I showed this to my 4-year-old daughter and she lit up with a smile and asked, "How did he know I liked rainbows?!"
Well done.
64
u/AlrightJohnnyImSorry Aug 26 '18
I showed this to my 3-year-old son and he said, "What is it?"
I then showed it to my 5-year-old daughter in the other room and she said, "Whooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa! ...what is it?"
I guess my kids don't say interesting things.
→ More replies13
u/gummz13 Aug 26 '18
Haha I showed this to my 6 year old. He looked at it shrugged and went back to fortnite.
→ More replies→ More replies139
38
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
It'd be cool if you could make a unit with full RGB LEDs, and a accelerometer or height sensor, then the you set the LED colour somewhere on a red to green to blue spectrum based on how fast you're moving, so the result is blue sections at the easiest parts of the cliff and red sections where you slowed down
→ More replies15
u/stovenn Aug 26 '18
I'd like to see the color tied to a
heartbeatadrenaline monitor - so we can see where the scary bits are.7
u/Topochicho Aug 26 '18
Actually, just need some underwear with the right sensors.
Yellow: for when his anus puckers.
Red: for a little pee.
Turn off: for poo. Cause we wouldn't want ruin the shot with a sudden downward light streak.
48
u/fjbruzr Aug 26 '18
What an awesome idea for a photo. Thanks for sharing.
22
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
Thanks for viewing. I have done it with glowsticks before, but I've had the idea to use LEDs for a while now and finally got a chance to try it out tonight.
13
38
32
8
8
7
u/daisybelle36 Aug 26 '18
I'd love to see this with a clear outline of you at the start. Are the LEDs running down your back, arms and legs or something? It's a very pretty photo!
→ More replies
6
6
5
u/minetruly Aug 26 '18
Climber: Help me attach these LED's to my body.
Belayer: The fuck why?
Climber: Gonna get myself a metric fuck ton of karma on reddit.
→ More replies
11
5
4
u/bjames2277 Aug 26 '18
Reminded me immediately of one of my fav ski videos ever... https://vimeo.com/108679294. LED shreading. To those who haven't seen its a treat. Good work on the climb sir
3
u/potato_lover Aug 26 '18
It is rare these days that you see something online that you havent seen been done before.. this is one of those times. I mean I have seen long exposures of course, but this is combining some cool skills you have that others dont readily have! Apt name by the way!
5
u/Izicial Aug 26 '18
Aurora Borealus at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely on this mountain??
At least we got to see it :)
→ More replies
5
5
u/infamine334 Aug 31 '18
This is really cool if they posted the picture at the bottom of cliffs for people to see the most common path up.
5
18
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '18
But then there's the half-shadow woman in the foreground.
→ More replies39
u/shatteredankle Aug 26 '18
That is the woman who's keeping me from hitting the ground. Her upper body is blurred from cruxing out, trying to keep up with me on the belay.
21
u/NASAguy1000 Aug 26 '18
For the non Rock climbing people among us. Belaying is just pulling the slack out of the rope so if the climber falls they only fall as far the slack, and or their last clip.
→ More replies
9
u/FaehBatsy Aug 26 '18
Permission to use your picture for personal gain?
Such as this: https://imgur.com/a/Y0WvUeb
→ More replies9
u/SJC-Caron Aug 26 '18
You should clarify, personal non-financial gain, with credit to the OP in the tags / metadata.
3
u/SnugglesREDDIT Aug 26 '18
When you’re doing super long exposures like this (I’m guessing climbing that took close to an hour?) how do you know which iso and aperture etc along with shutter speed to make the lighting so perfect, the lights aren’t overexposed and the rest of the image isnt overly underexposed. Like it seems you need the perfect settings to get this right, which is hard from my experience to know before you’ve done somethin.
→ More replies3
u/mikeleus Aug 26 '18
You keep the ISO low and the aperture at a high f number; bulb mode for the shutter speed. This way you "record" all the light but don't overexpose because the aperture will keep things dark. Also this creates the "starburst" effect that you can see on the top part of the light trail. The bigger the f number, the longer the spikes in the starburst.
3
u/kowaitori Aug 26 '18
Another idea is to hook up an altimeter and LEDs to a microcontroller, and have the LEDs gradually shift gradient as you ascend.
3
u/psychicesp Aug 26 '18
I don't know enough things to do this myself, but I bet one could calculate how long the exposure was based on the length of the star lines in the sky
3
9
6
u/PeleKen Aug 26 '18
I thought about making a picture like this, but was too lazy to hike, so I looked for a Photoshop tutorial instead. The Photoshop tutorial had too many steps so I played Xbox. I wanted to finally finish Shadow of Mordor, but was too lazy to hunt for the disk, so I played Minecraft off the harddrive instead.
Cool pic.
2
u/pleasehelpthisnewbie Aug 26 '18
That's so cool! Impressive, original, stunning. I'd love to see a "normal" picture of you with all of the LED tied to yourself as well.
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/rohitaneja8 Aug 26 '18
I see even earth moved a bit during long exposure. Stars made a trail too !
2
2
2
2
u/gafana Aug 26 '18
Do it again with times delayed photos. One every 5 seconds for 5 seconds shutter. Do a large number of these shots then animate them together. The moving glowness would be sweet
→ More replies
2
2
2
•
u/adeadhead Aug 26 '18
Shout-out to /r/climbing