Painting ... with Light

Discussion 6 posts |  Only members can post. Join?

About Painting ... with Light

This is for those of you who are up for a challenge - and even better yet - for those of you that spent all their money on a camera and can't afford fancy off camera lighting!

There are 2 kinds of light painting: One is by moving a light source in the air and face it towards the lens; the other one is "painting" a surface with a snooted flashlight or other light source. Whatever your technique, this group accept both =)

Here's what you need:

A dark room or scene - minimal to no ambient light
A camera with the ability to manually set aperture, exposure and preferably WB as well.
A simple flashlight - snooted with black paper or other cheap fix
Tri-Pod
If able - set in camera noise reduction for long exposures
and finally - You'll need an idea

1.) Set your f/stop to at least 14 and higher
2.) Exposure ranging from 5 to 30 seconds
3.) ISO of about 200
4.) Timer if possible - to give you time to get over to your scene and paint it.
5.) Play with your WB until you get a warmth or coolness to your liking - I suggest reading about kelvin temperatures in relation to different lighting tools / sources - that's what the little "k" stands for at the end of the number in your custom WB settings (i.e. 7200k)
www.apogeephoto.com/july2004/jaltengarten7_2004.shtml

Click the shutter and use the direct-facing or surface-painting technique.
Play until you get an image you like - if done right, you'll have minimal if any post processing work to do. The results are fabulous and sky's the limit!

Have fun and please - post away!