Light painting is painting with light in a dark environment. You may be familiar with these photos, in which glowing, fantasy-like spheres float in a room or lettering and symbols appear on a photo as if by magic.
These pictures are usually a so-called light painting.
In this article we would like to deal specifically with light painting and give you some tips and tricks on the subject of light painting. We go into the most important basics and give you a few ideas and useful tips so that nothing stands in the way of your own light painting attempts. Because painting with light requires a lot of imagination, tact, spatial imagination and time. But it's definitely worth it. Because light painting is just a lot of fun.
Light painting is usually a simple long exposure of a photo. Light painting therefore ties in with our photo knowledge about night photography.
Should you still have difficulties operating your camera in dark light conditions and want to get to know the technical background of aperture, shutter speed and ISO value better?
Photography check card (cheat sheet)
As is well known, pictures say more than a thousand words. This is probably why our photography check card is so popular and serves many photographers as an ingenious cheat sheet for on the go. The handy DIN A6 card uses small graphics to illustrate how the interplay between ISO value, aperture and exposure time works and how these different settings influence each other.
Since the interaction of the individual parameters is the same in every photographic subject area, this photography check card is ideally suited for all types of photography such as night photography, thunderstorm photography, landscape photography or architectural photography.
This light painting article is a complement to night photography. Using a long exposure, all light sources in the image section are captured on the photo.
So while the camera is taking a long exposure, all light information is permanently transmitted to the image sensor. With static light sources such as lanterns, long exposure at night leads to a balanced, bright image result. The lantern illuminates the surrounding area and provides bright illumination of the entire area in the photo. The longer the photo is exposed, the brighter it becomes.
If the light sources are now moved during a long exposure, they will create a trail of light on the later photo. Through the movement of the light source, new image information about the position of the light source is sent to the sensor, which records this shift and then displays it as a tracer.
Once you have understood this principle, it is a lot of fun to incorporate this light trail effect into the image design.
So basically light painting is a completely normal long exposure. While with a normal long exposure, passing cars, for example, provide red traces of light on the finished photo, with light painting you create your own traces of light. Since you move your light source like a brush in the image section and thus create a trace of light or, so to speak, paint one of the light painting or the light painting.
In order to create good light paintings, however, you should pay attention to a few important things.
For good long exposures, the first thing you need is the right equipment.
Equipment:
The camera:
Your camera should be able to set the exposure time and aperture manually. This is important in order to determine and set the appropriate exposure time for your light painting. A few seconds exposure time is enough for simple light painting. For extensive and larger light paintings, the exposure time must be correspondingly longer so that you have enough time to finish painting your light trail.
Most cameras allow a manual exposure time of 30-60 seconds. For longer exposure times, your camera must have bulb mode. The bulb mode is intended for such long exposures and exposes the sensor of your camera for as long as the shutter button is pressed.
Furthermore, your camera should offer the possibility to set the ISO value of the image sensor and the aperture of the lens manually. Both settings are necessary in order to be able to expose as long as possible without the finished image becoming too bright and thus overexposed.
However, you will get the best results with a (digital) reflex camera or the new system cameras . Both cameras make it possible to change the right lenses for every topic. This allows you to react quickly to very specific circumstances with the right lens. We suspect that the system cameras will sooner or later replace the single-lens reflex cameras.
The Lens:
The lens doesn't play that big a role in light painting. It should be possible to set the aperture manually using the camera. Since it is often difficult to focus with the help of autofocus in night photography and it is therefore necessary to focus manually, autofocus is not absolutely necessary. You don't need an image stabilizer either. This should always be deactivated for long exposures anyway! With longer exposures and the use of a tripod, image stabilizers often try to stabilize moving elements in the image section, even though the camera is completely still on a tripod. This often results in a blurry image, which is why we always deactivate the image stabilizer for long exposures.
The remote release:
An indispensable piece of equipment is a remote shutter release . Using a remote release, it is possible to lock the shutter release during a bulb long exposure so that you don't have to press it permanently. In Bulb mode, you can use it to start the exposure and lock the shutter release, so that you can then release it when you stop recording and thus end the exposure. It doesn't matter how long your exposure takes. Your camera will expose the image sensor as long as the shutter button is locked.
The tripod:
In order to get blur-free long exposures, it is imperative to use a stable tripod . Your camera should be secure and absolutely stable in order to produce a blur-free image. Even the smallest vibrations are enough to blur a long exposure and thus make it appear blurred. Therefore only extend the tripod legs as far as necessary. The longer the legs, the more unstable the whole construction becomes. You should also make sure that you have a secure and firm footing. Check whether your tripod is stable and cannot slip during the exposure. You should avoid bridges or wobbly constructions, as all vibrations from passing vehicles are transmitted to the ground and thus to your tripod and camera.
The light source (flashlight):
The most important piece of equipment when painting with light is of course a suitable light source. Small flashlights are best. However, these should not be too bright or too faint. We like to use a small flashlight like the Mag-Lite-XL200 which can be dimmed. In this way, the light intensity can be perfectly adapted to the desired light painting.
But you can also use any other light source. This could be your cell phone, a bike taillight, a lighter or even sparklers, among other things. Everything that makes light can be used for light painting. Colorful flashing or glowing LED rods enable impressive effects and exciting light paintings. Stick lights in different colors are also well suited.
The right clothes:
One point that is often neglected and therefore neglected is the right clothing. Clothing plays a major role in light painting. The reason lies in the reflection of your own light generated by the light source. If you are brightly dressed, the light-colored clothing reflects the light from the light source and shines equally brightly back to the camera. So you not only have your painted light trail on the picture, but also blurred light spots or traces of yourself, how you moved in the image section and also banned these light trails onto the sensor. So it is best to wear black clothes. A dark hooded sweater is perfect for this. In addition, there should be no shiny parts or reflectors on clothing, in order to mirror or reflect as little foreign and unwanted light from yourself as possible. You have to be dressed as dark as possible so that your camera doesn't see you. Where no light can reflect or reflect, nothing is recorded by the camera. So if you manage to be as invisible as possible to your camera, you can create traces of light that appear to have been painted by magic. This requires a little practice at first, but it is well known that it makes perfect.
The technical basics:
In addition to the important items of equipment, you need a little basic knowledge of the possible settings, their properties and what consequences these have for the finished result. In this article, we will only go into these things in the basics of light painting. You can read more extensive explanations of all technical properties in our night photography article.
The ISO value:
The ISO value regulates the light sensitivity of your image sensor. In order to have the highest possible dynamic range and to be able to expose for a long time, the ISO value should be set to the lowest possible adjustable value. Usually this value is between 50 and 200.
The photosensitivity is lower and it can be exposed longer. In addition, a lower ISO value produces a higher dynamic range and thus brighter colors, less image noise and thus better image quality.
The aperture:
The aperture is determined by the lens, but in most cases it is set on the camera. In contrast to other night photography, it is not absolutely necessary to have the largest possible aperture. An open aperture allows more light to fall on the image sensor and thus short exposure times even in difficult lighting conditions. Since light painting usually takes longer than 30 seconds to expose, it is often even necessary not to open the aperture too far, otherwise the picture will be too bright and thus overexposed. In order to find a suitable value for the aperture, you have to try something out. For the beginning we recommend an aperture of F8.0 to f11.0. With this aperture setting, exposure times of 30-60 seconds should be possible without overexposure. Should your picture still be too bright, then close the aperture further. If it gets too dark, open it to let more light reach the sensor.
The shutter speed (exposure time):
The shutter speed describes the time in which the light hits the sensor in order to expose it. In order to have enough time for light painting, the exposure time should be at least 30 seconds. For longer exposure times it is necessary to switch to bulb mode with most cameras. This mode is intended for longer exposure times and exposes the sensor for as long as the shutter button is pressed. With the help of a remote release, you can start the exposure and click the shutter release button. When you are done with your light painting, you release the lock of the shutter release and thus end your exposure. In order to have enough time for light painting, we recommend an exposure time of around 60 seconds. An aperture of F8.0 to F11.0 should ensure good results.
Mirror lock-up:
To be absolutely sure that there are no blurring in your picture, you can activate the mirror lock-up when using an SLR camera. This is used to flip up the camera's mirror by pressing the shutter release. After a few seconds of waiting, you can start your exposure by pressing the shutter release again. The advantage of the mirror pre-release is that even the smallest movements or vibrations of the mirror that flies up are eliminated during the release process, thus avoiding even the smallest vibrations, which can lead to a blurred result.
Correct focus:
Automatic focus:
Depending on the camera or lens, the autofocus works differently well or poorly. It can often happen that the autofocus cannot find a fixed point and cannot focus on the subject. This is due to the sometimes low contrast range or too few structures of light and dark parts in the image section. If there are enough structures in your image section, it is usually possible for the autofocus to bring something into focus. This is the case, for example, with a nighttime cityscape. The many lights and different contrasts make it easy for the autofocus to find the right focus point.
If the subject allows it and the autofocus does its job, then it is advisable to use it. However, it is essential to check a previously taken picture on the camera display and enlarge it as much as possible in order to detect any incorrect focus and thus a blurring in good time.
If the picture is out of focus despite autofocus or if the AF turns a wolf and in the end it stops with a completely out of focus subject, you have no choice but to adjust the focus manually. Don't worry, this is not rocket science and it happens very quickly. Your camera or lens should therefore have a manual focus.
Focusing manually:
There are many ways to set a manual focus very precisely. We would like to explain the possibilities with which we have already achieved good results ourselves.
Focus using the LiveView:
The easiest way is to adjust the focus using your camera's LiveView mode. Most cameras these days already have this mode. It shows the photo you see in the viewfinder on the camera screen.
Use a digital magnifying glass to enlarge the image on the display. Find a place in the picture where you can judge the sharpness well. In the case of a cityscape, for example, this can be the finest structures of masonry or a street lamp. The finer the structures, the better you can judge the sharpness.
First try to use the autofocus to focus on the selected area. If you succeed, switch off the autofocus and switch to manual focus. You should do this so that the autofocus does not want to focus again when you press the shutter button again, because you have already set the optimal focus.
However, if the autofocus does not find a focus point, you have to focus manually for better or worse. However, this should be possible without problems on the enlarged area on your camera display.
If you can't find a clue in your subject to set the focus correctly, turning the focus to infinity also helps. Since the correct focus point for most lenses is a little before infinity, you should simply turn the focus ring back 2–3 mm.
It is best if you simply mark the exact focus point with a small dot on your lens. You can find that out in good lighting conditions.
The light painting:
Once you have mounted your camera firmly and stably on a tripod, set the ISO value and aperture and activated the bulb mode, you're ready to go.
The picture above clearly shows that you can create impressive works of light art if you stick to certain rules. In this case, we “painted” our car with burning sparklers. To be on the safe side, we took the photos step by step and then layered them with Photoshop. First we painted the front, then the bonnet, further to the side, etc. We illuminated the area with some burning Bengalos. The following lines show you how you can create such works of art.
First you start the long exposure with the help of the remote release and the BULB function. In dark clothes it is very difficult for the camera to capture enough light from you. Your light source, on the other hand, shines brightly and leaves a beautiful trail of light on the image sensor. Despite dark clothing, you should still move quickly. Dressed in dark clothes and constantly in motion, you create almost no reflections and are therefore no longer recognizable in the finished picture.
Now you can start your light painting in the image area . Make sure, however, that you either switch off your light source in the event of interruptions or cover it with one hand or a dark cardboard box in order to only draw the desired "lines" in the picture.
It takes some practice to paint all the lines and tracks as desired. You have to remember very carefully in which order you draw the lines or how large you draw individual elements in order to achieve a proportionally correct size ratio to the rest of the image content.
In the beginning, it is best to orientate yourself towards your own body and put appropriate points in your mind to avoid double lines as much as possible. Depending on the light intensity of the light source used, you then have to adjust your drawing speed. For example, if you use a sparkler that burns relatively dark, you have to pull it out slowly. If you use a powerful flashlight, however, you can move it quickly across the picture.
You will achieve the best results if you draw each light trail only once, since double dragging leads to lighter lines and your light painting could then appear uneven. Make sure that you have to paint all the light trails mirror-inverted when you are standing behind the light source when viewed from the camera.
The most difficult thing is to write a text with light. To avoid shadows or interruptions in the lighting, it is advisable to stand behind the light. In order for the text on the photo to be legible and right upside down, you have to write it mirrored. If you don't like the mirror-inverted writing, try dark clothing in front of the light and only move in one direction. In this case from left to right.
Your hand should move next to your body so that you do not cover the light trail with your own body and thus cause interruptions. This position is not that comfortable and often causes unnatural movements, which is why the light painting then looks a bit cramped.
If you want to make it easy for yourself and still have good results, just write the text with your light source as if you were standing in front of a blackboard and I was looking at the camera. The camera with the image sensor is like the blackboard. In order to then have a correctly readable text, you simply have to mirror the finished image using image processing. However, it is important not to have any non-mirrorable objects in the image section, as these are then also mirrored in the finished image and are accordingly more false.
For more difficult motifs, it is advisable to practice the movements beforehand or to sketch them on a piece of paper. As already mentioned above, set certain clues in your mind or fix something in the environment. After a few dry runs, every light painting should eventually lead to a successful goal.
With these tips, you might not find it so difficult to try a few light paintings. Even if the results don't look very nice at the beginning, the whole thing is definitely a lot of fun and very exciting. Time goes by very quickly and a boring night becomes an adventure.
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