I don't get light painting - How does it work?

[ziggy©]

I have been reading up about light painting and i just don't get how it is supposed to work. I found this video on youtube which is probably the best example i have seen so far showing how to do light painting. Two questions:

- When he does the painting, i can see that the light coming from the torch is very strong/harsh. How come the harsh light is not visible on the final image?
- The light coming from the torch is not even. On some areas it is harsh and some areas it is not. How does he manage to even out the light on the final shot?

[YOUTUBE]3vEoUFAjKTM[/YOUTUBE]

I am interested in light painting for correctly exposing a shot with minimal light source. Most of the examples show light painting for light trails or weaves. If anyone knows of any video/tutorials on light painting then please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Papajoe]

Hi Ziggy, first of all let me tell you that I’m a beginner not an expert, but when a friend lent me a DSLR last November painting with light was one of the first things I did, it was great fun!

I decided to give it a try after reading an article on Pablo Picasso, who had been ‘painting’ with light since 1949.

What I did was very different from the video you presented, but the principle is the same.

You have to control how much light hits the sensor, by combining the appropriate ISO, aperture, light source, movement of light source, and length of time that the shutter is open. So if you keep the light source in the same place, you will obviously over expose the shot.

The best way to learn is to just do it! And adjust your technique based on your results.




http://life.time.com/culture/picasso-drawing-with-light/#1

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

- When he does the painting, i can see that the light coming from the torch is very strong/harsh. How come the harsh light is not visible on the final image?
- The light coming from the torch is not even. On some areas it is harsh and some areas it is not. How does he manage to even out the light on the final shot?


Thanks

It is visible. ...those bright bits you see while he's being filmed, are in the final photo as the brighter bits ...what you don't see are the contrasty edges of the torches light because he's smearing those with its continuous fluid movement.

Its really very similar to studio lighting in construction ..only instead of all the lights being on and static, and a fast exposure catching the lot, your lights are added individually, one after the other, during a long exposure, giving you exposure wise, exactly the same image as the studio shot.

 

[POAH]

Light painting with a torch is practice. Normally takes more than one attempt

 

[mata.morrison]

I am also a beginner in the Light-painting scene. Its great, however its practise and experimenting that really is the key. I read and watched videos over and over just to find out the background behind it and how to start off, it wasn't until I started trying it for myself that I began to start learning 'how' to do it if you get what I mean.

To do with the harshness, having the ISO so low he is reducing the sensitivity of the sensor. So by going over the same section of wrench it layers the light, so where he has only done lighting very quickly becomes slightly lit and over and over will be come brighter. It all blends together in the exposure after, creating the nicely lit scene.

There is so many ways and techniques you can use while light painting, I would advise looking at Flickr groups and get inspiration and ideas as some people give examples and info on how each shot is done, and then give it a whirl.

You can check out my thread My Light Painting Evolving to see my progress if that helps, any questions about the images just ask, more than happy to help

 

[Pegasus2]

I saw this thread yesterday and decided I din't have sufficient knowlege to answer it. I shall endeavour anyway.

So the sensor is exposed for 15seconds, he's set a very small apeture and low iso. So he needs a lot of light on the subject to successfully expose the sensor. Any light (or photons if you prefer, i've started thinking like this recently) reach the sensor, the longer the light is shone for the more exposed it will appear in the image. By removing the light, you stop photons reaching the sensor and start recording the dark into the final image again.

I'm finding this really difficult to explain, so don't worry if you don't get what I said. It's nearly all practice, turn live preview on to begin with so you get some idea of whats going on as you paint. Keep messing about and it will start to make sense.