Light Painting Photography

Light painting painting with light light drawing or light art performance photography are terms that describe photographic techniques of moving a light source while taking a long exposure photograph either to illuminate a subject or space or to shine light at the camera to draw or by moving the camera itself during exposure of light sources.

Light painting photography. Kinetic light painting photography. It s one of the most fun night photography techniques. The camera s owner manual lists all functions and settings of your camera while explaining the function of each. This is an ongoing series that i hope will give you light painting ideas that you can try out on your own.

In this light painting photography tutorial video i show you how to light paint a dreamy sailboat scene using a sheet a paper cut out of a sailboat and light painting tools from light painting brushes. Kinetic light painting is where the light source stays stationary and the camera is moved to create color or design within the frame. Light painting is a creative technique that produces dramatic and memorable images. Although light painting has been around almost as long as photography has existed digital cameras have made light painting techniques easier than ever.

Light painting is an incredibly fun technique in which photographers use flashlights camera flashes and spotlights to literally paint light into a scene. Light painting may take lots of patience and practice to perfect but the results can be very rewarding. The surreal way that light wraps around the subject of the photo often leaves viewers wondering how exactly the trick is done. Learning about your camera with light painting photography if you have been reluctant to adjust your camera manually and depend only on automatic camera settings light painting is a great way to learn how to use your manual camera settings while having fun.

A powerful flashlight like a maglite for light painting i use an incandescent one led will produce a bluer tone light a speedlight or portable flash unit can also be used for light painting you don t need a fancy one even an old vivitar 283 or 285 will do the trick. Practiced since the 1880s the technique. Light painting has been a basic technique in my photography ever since i learned how to really play with it. I started by just doing the usual of writing names and doing swirls but then i learned.

But let s not make this sound too complicated light painting is a lot like any low light photography except in this scenario we are putting an outside light source in motion to enhance an image.