Just Image-n: Light Painting Tutorial

Here is the long promised light painting tutorial. This is just to get you started so you can let your creativity and imagination run wild.

Before I begin I must warn you that this tutorial is going to be detailed, so it is bound to be long.

If you don’t want to read this feel free to watch the following video which should cover almost everything that this written tutorial covers.

What exactly is light painting?

Here is how Wikipedia describes light painting - “Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. The term light painting also encompasses images lit from outside the frame with hand-held light sources.”

Basically it’s painting with light. You can do this because your camera’s sensor doesn’t work the same way as your eye does. I’m not going to go into the technical side of this because it will bore you and force you to close this post. Your camera captures all light as long as the shutter stays open (which could be for hours).

Light painting is very easy but its super cool.

There are two ways you can paint with light:

1. Creating a design with your light source. You expose the light source i.e. the path travelled by the light source is visible in the final photograph. Some call this light drawing.

You can also use the light source like a paint brush. You paint the scene with the light so the light source is not visible in the final photograph. Some call this light painting.

I first painted the chair with a flashlight (torch) then drew then figure with an LED.

2. Another way you can light paint is by moving the camera. This will give you more abstract results.

I just place some LEDs on a table and then moved the camera to create an abstract result.

If that doesn't make much sense don’t worry because I’ll be going into detail later.

Now as I said before light painting is very easy and simple and you only need minimal equipment.

So, what will you need?

1. Camera

2. Tripod

3. Light Source

4. A camera remote/shutter release cable (optional)

5. Dark environment (60% optional…I’ll explain later)

CAMERA

Let’ talk about the camera first. You will need a camera capable of long exposures – a dSLR works best. If you don’t have a dSLR then you need not worry because a “pro-sumer” camera works just as well. I personally use a Canon SX50 HS which is not a dSLR but it’s ok for long exposure although it is not the best. A camera with manual mode (M) works perfectly well. Most dSLRs also have Bulb (B) mode which lets you keep the shutter open as long as you want – this is by far your best option.

The most important aspect you need to have control over is your shutter speed so as long as you can change this in your camera you are fine.

If you have a point-and-shoot then you will probably not be able to paint with light but there is something you can do about that as well. Set your camera to Program (P) mode. Adjust the exposure compensation to +2 (or whatever the highest is on your camera). This should technically give you a shutter speed of about 1” (one second) during which you can paint. This is not ideal but it is the best you can do with your point-and-shoot.

TRIPOD

Now about the tripod. A tripod is essential although it is not an absolute must. You can use any sturdy surface to set up your camera. As long as your camera doesn’t move during the exposure you are good to go. Not all surfaces are perfectly sturdy even though they may seem to be (I’m thinking of a particular scene from The Empire Strikes Back). I would recommend a tripod because it gives you a lot of control.

NOTE - Do not use a tripod if you are going to move you camera to create an abstract results as you might hurt people near you or knock over precious antiques. Take this from a guy with experience.

LIGHT SOURCE

Your light source could be absolutely anything although something is not as bright as the sun. You could use a flash light or torch, an LED, a bunch of LEDs, a candle…anything!

SHUTTER RELEASE/REMOTE

A remote for your camera or a shutter release cable is optional but it helps make your job easier. You would basically need these so that you don’t have to touch your camera at all which in turn would eliminate any shake. If you don’t have these there is another way out – use the camera’s in-built self timer. Set the timer to anything longer than 2” (two seconds). This will help eliminate any camera shake and will greatly reduce motion blur.

DARK ENVIRONMENT

You do not want any stray light coming into the frame which is why a dark environment is suitable. I said this is optional because you could paint out on the street, under the street light and depending on your shutter speed the photograph will not be overexposed. If you are shooting in a place where there is some other light then you have to be very careful so that it doesn’t spoil your shot. A dark room actually works best. It is also where I do most of my light painting. I just turn off all the lights and shut the door and then just go crazy (with light painting obviously).

Ok! So now that you have everything you need you just need to know how. How exactly do you paint with light?

This is the fun part!

Set up your camera on your tripod or on a steady surface. Set it to manual mode or bulb mode (which I think is accessed from manual mode). If you are not using Bulb mode then set your exposure to a relatively long value. This again depends on what you are painting/drawing.

Set your aperture.

NOTE – During light painting the aperture not only controls how much is in focus but also controls the brightness of your light source.

QUICK TIP - Most cameras will have a problem focusing in the dark so there is a very easy way to get around this problem. Place you light source on the ground i.e. in the same plane as your main point of focus or you can hold it at the exact point where you want the camera to focus. I recommend the first option because you can do this yourself and requires less effort. Turn it on. Now using Auto-Focus focus on the light source and lock the focus by switching to Manual Focus (MF).

Set your ISO. The ISO controls the overall brightness of the picture and also the brightness of the light source.

NOTE – Don’t set your ISO too high as you will end up getting a really noisy picture. Long exposures generate a lot of noise as it is.

Set your white balance. This controls the colour of your light source.

NOTE – If you are shooting in RAW then don’t bother about this because you can always change the white balance later in post-processing.

Get your light source ready and turn off the lights if you are indoors.

Now take the picture. Once your press the shutter button you will start the exposure so whatever you do with your light from now on will be registered by the camera till the shutter closes.

Use the light source to paint an object or person. If it is a person you are painting then the person should be as still as possible because the tiniest movements are greatly exaggerated in long exposures. If it is an object then it shouldn't move. This is like painting on a canvas with paint. The light is like the paint.

NOTE – The longer you paint an object the brighter it will be. Do not linger for too long in one place.

With light painting you can get results that would otherwise need an elaborate setup.

Another way of painting is when you move your light source in such a way that the path travelled by the light source is visible in the photograph. These paths are called light streaks. This is just like drawing. You could draw anything with this technique.

Drawing with light streaks.

NOTE – Do not keep the light for too long in one place as it will end up being too bright. This is equivalent to leaving the iron on a perfect nice white shirt for far too long. You end up burning the picture.

An example of "burning" a picture.

Side-note – Keep moving. Don’t stay in one place for too long as you will then show up in the photograph.

If you keep moving you’ll be fine. Dark clothes are recommended but not a necessity.

TIP - If you can't use a long shutter speed so as to be able to complete the entire painting in one exposure don't worry. Divide the painting into multiple part. Use one exposure for one part so that you end up with many exposures, each having a different part of the painting. You can then combine these multiple exposures into one single exposure in a photo editing software (like Photoshop) by simply changing the layer blending mode.

I took about 10 exposures and then used layer blending modes to combine them in Photoshop.

Scroll down for a few tips and check out the examples at the end of the tutorial.

Before I finish I’d like to leave you with a few quick tips.

Tip 1. It takes time to perfect light painting just like anything else. Don’t get frustrated and don’t give up. Keep practicing. Over time you will get faster and better at this.

Tip 2. Be patient. Keep calm.

Tip 3. Keep an eye on your aperture – it has two very important functions. It not only controls the depth of field (DOF) but also the brightness of the light.

Tip 4. Don’t shine the light into the camera for too long from the same spot. This will cause a flare and will ruin your picture.

Tip 5. Keep an eye on your white balance if you are shooting jpegs.

Tip 6. Don’t set your ISO too high. You want to keep it as low as possible.

Tip 7. For inspiration look at the work of other artists.

Tip 8. This is by far the most important tip – HAVE FUN! Enjoy yourself.

I hope this was helpful and you were able to learn a few things.

If you would like to know anything more or if I have missed out anything or haven’t made anything clear then do leave a comment to let me know and I will get back to you.

Anyway have fun!

Oh, Yeah! The examples...how could I forget? :D