'Light Painting Experiment' by Daniel James Underwood
Light painting is not difficult to learn, doesn’t require much experience and is a lot of fun! The idea behind this technique is really simple: while shooting a long exposure photo, move a source of light around, this gets recorded onto the sensor of the camera, and ‘Hey Presto’, you have an abstract drawing or ‘light painting’.
Light painting: the action!
There are no rules about what to do whilst the shutter is open, it’s just about creativity. It’s possible to write, to draw, or just to create an abstract picture.
Drawing a flower - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5.6 - speed 28s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Abstract photo - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5.6 - speed 13s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Adding a touch of magic to a real context - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/4 - speed 31s - ISO 400 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Impressive results can be obtained by integrating this light painting technique in a real environment with objects and people. It’s better to plan in advance what to draw, and generally requires repeated attempts to understand how long the exposure should be, how fast the speed of movement needs to be and how much freedom is needed to move around and yet stay within the frame.
Abstract photo obtained rotating a fluorescent sword - Sony DSC-P73 - 6mm - F-stop: f/2.8 - speed 30s - ISO 100 - Mini Tripod
Whilst moving the light, the thickness of the “brush” can be changed by moving the light source more quickly. Slowing down for thick strokes and speeding up to sharpen the line. Repeating the movement along the same path will also brighten the strokes.
By changing the speed of movement we can adjust the thickness of the line - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5.6 - speed 6s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
A ghost is visible on the right - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5 - speed 10s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Whilst light painting, it’s important to keep moving, otherwise becoming a ghost like apparition in the resulting photo is quite likely.
Camera Painting - Sony DSC-P73 - 6mm - F-stop: f/2.8 - speed 3s - ISO 100 - Mini Tripod
Drawing some smileys - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5 - speed 35s - ISO 200 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Materials Needed
To get started, a camera which can take photos in manual mode is required, along with a tripod, a light source and a dark location. To create the luminous trails: a flashlight (torch), led, fire, poi balls, Christmas lights or anything that emits light basically. The colour of the source will influence the final result. A blue led, an incandescent warm lightbulb, or a candle will each produce a different effect.
Jugglers spinning poi balls - Sony DSC-P73 - 6mm - F-stop: f/5.6 - speed 1s - ISO 100 - No tripod
Abstract photo obtained using a tungsten light- Sony DSC-P73 - 6mm - F-stop: f/5.6 - speed 15s - ISO 100 - Mini tripod
Settings for a long exposure photo
The camera settings are relatively straight forward. First of all, take a long exposure picture. This can be accomplished in 2 ways, firstly by setting the camera in manual mode (M) or Shutter priority (Tv or S) and choosing the exposure time in advance (for example 30s) or even better, using Bulb mode (B). Secondly, to use a remote control, pressing the button a first time to begin, then to draw by moving the source of light, and then close the shutter when finished by pressing the button a second time.
Focusing in low light
A nice postcard for Christmas - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5 - speed 10s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Automatic focusing in low light could turn out to be very difficult if not impossible. But if shooting indoors, it’s ok to leave the light on before starting the shot. If outside, to help focus, use a torch to illuminate the scene or ask an assistent to hold a mobile phone. However, the best results are generally found when manually focusing. It’s often the case that several attempts at a light painting photograph need to be made. Some of the photos published in this article required more than 10 attempts before obtaining an acceptable result.
Writing with light - Pentax K7 - Pentax smc DA 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR - 18mm - F-stop: f/5 - speed 67s - ISO 100 - Tripod: Cullmann Nanomax 250 CW25
Another great article Davide, thanks!
I’m going to have a go at lighting some product photography by ‘painting’… Do you have any tips on controlling exposure when painting with light, or is it just a case of trial and error?
Cheers!
James
Hello James, I would suggest you to keep ISO low to avoid noise, and using a remote control in bulb mode for controlling the shutter speed. About aperture since you usually don’t need too much depth of field in this pictures, you can start leaving it as open as possible and if overexposed adjust with trial and error!
I have always been fascinated by the sight of light painting. I have never considered doing one though. Thanks to this post, I might consider doing one myself. It will be fun for sure.
Yes, it’s definetely fun! Just try and you won’t regret it!
I have always been fascinated by such photos. I have also experimented doing so with friends and we achieved great results.
This is something I’ve always wanted to try. What are the effects of off-camera flash on the process? Can I use rear-curtain sync to expose a subject or does that mess up the light painting? Thanks for the post…I’m anxious to get out and try it.
Pingback: Showing the movement: Motion Blur photography | SLR-Lens blog
Hello Jon, sorry for the Delay, but I didn’t recognize your comment. Of course you can use off-camera flash and rear-curtain sync, they don’t mess up the light painting, it’s very useful if you want to add extra effect with a sharp subject!
Great share, Davide. I am trying to teach myself light painting. Thank you for the advice, everything applied has at least been a fun learning process. I recently wrote a post of light painting videos and the history behind the art form: http://www.real.com/resources/light-painting-videos