Traffic lights and fog combine to make amazing images

It's amazing what you can do with just a camera and some light sources, whether it's incredible light painting or dressing models in nothing but light. You don't necessarily need a fancy setup, though; sometimes you just need to be in the right place at the right time to create impressive pictures without the need for photo editing apps.

Visual communication student Lucas Zimmermann was driving past some traffic lights one foggy December evening near Weimar, Germany, when he noticed the atmosphere created by the light hitting the water droplets in the air. "I just had to stop and take pictures of it," he recalls.

Using shutter speeds between 8 and 30 seconds, Zimmermann adjusted the temperature and brightness settings to achieve images as close to the original sight as possible.

"Incoming cars were a big pain," he laughs. "And I was surprised to see the green lights came out very blue."

This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 224.