Light Painting

The idea of having a subject in a totally dark room and the camera on a tripod with the shutter open and painting the subject with light from a torch/flashlight is not new but the opportunities with digital to check your results immediately and make changes to exposure and/or the light painting process to correct problems makes it much more simple than working with film. This article from Light Stalking gives basic instructions, this is a fun way to make pictures and can lead to exciting visual discoveries and one way you can continue to photograph even if the weather outside is not conducive. Here is another article from diyphotography with additional ideas and information

35 Stunning Examples of Long Exposure Photographs

Most photography uses extremely fast shutter speeds, only allowing light into the camera for a fraction of a second, but when longer exposures are used there can be some remarkable results. Static objects are revealed in heightened detail, while anything moving becomes a blur.Long exposure photography entails using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring its moving elements.

The ability to take long exposures requires a user to use a tripod for optimum results (of course, some people prefer the hand shake look). The use of a tripod is essential because the inability for the human hand to stay still is truly remarkable. No matter how good you get, it will be very hard to hand hold a 1 second shutter release without very noticeable blur. As well as a tripod (or monopod in some cases could work), a photographer should make use of the timed shutter release. This will allow the user to set the shot up, and set a timer to release the shutter. Most cameras have the option of one or more timed shutter releases, for example my Canon 40D has a 2 second and 10 second wait. I usually use the 2 second release as this gives you just enough time to get your hands off the camera to not bump the shot. This is even more important on longer shutter times.

The technique of ‘light painting’ is the use of a long exposure while moving a light through a dark scene, recording the light source’s path, or shining light onto objects in the frame to highlight them. Enjoy the great examples below and get out their and experiment with your camera taking long exposures.  by Dustin Betonio ….…..more here

Light Painting Photography, 18 of the Worlds Best Artists Painting With Light

Light Painting Photography has been around since 1914 when Frank Gilbreth first use the form to study the motion of manufacturing and clerical workers. Light painting photography is also known as light painting, light drawing, light writing, light graffiti, light art, light art performance photography, LAPP, camera painting, and kinetic photography. All of these names are, in one form or another, long exposure photography. In Light Painting Photography the artist is leaving the shutter of the camera open for an extended period of time and using various lights to create color and design within the frame. Shutter speeds for light paintings can vary anywhere from 5 seconds up to 5 hours or more. To be a true light painting photograph the image must be created in one single frame without any post production manipulation whatsoever, a.k.a. NO PHOTOSHOP. Proper light painting photographs are known as SOOC or straight out of camera. This is a list of 18 of the worlds best light painting photographers.

Troy Paiva: Troy has been capturing his imagery since 1989 and is best known for his light painting work of abandon building and places that America has lost to time.

Dean Chamberlain: Dean began light painting in the late 70′s and has created stunning portraits of well known individuals such as David Bowie and Paul McCartney.

See the rest of the 18 here on the Tripwire Magazine site

Tips for Light Painting

Light painting is one of the most searched topics on the blog, so any help I can give should be well received, here is a post with 10 tips to help you do it better plus a video if you prefer……..”Light painting is an incredibly fun technique in which photographers use flashlights, camera flashes, and spotlights to literally paint light into a scene.  It’s one of the most fun night photography techniques.  Many photographers have attempted it, but only a few have mastered it (and I’m admittedly NOT one who has mastered it).  Nevertheless, I want to share a few things that I have learned while trying out light painting.”……...more tips here

Here’s the daddy of all light painting images