Light Painting / Light Graf

[Jesterarts]

Hey everyone,

I've just discovered something cool which has been around for ages apparently.

Light Painting or Light Graf.

Anyone else get upto this sort of thing? Please post pictures and any tips.

Here are a few shots I did tonight, first time ever so they are a bit crap and very out of focus but I hope to get the technique down and put together some nice shots.

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[ashbox]

taken from another forum i frequent but it something to try

AusPhotography:: Australia's Premier Photography Forum::

[Jesterarts]

^^^ Need to have an account to see that thread.

[ashbox]

all fixed for ya

[minux]

all fixed for ya

Kind of looks like a screwed up attempt of light painting.

[Jesterarts]

Ok... gave it another crack tonight... be kind... rewind...

I seem to have corrected my focus issues a bit... not just combating noise.

They where 30sec exposures at 400ISO.

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[NVMYVT]

i like the 2nd one mate, looks tigerish lol

[Jesterarts]

i like the 2nd one mate, looks tigerish lol

Hahah... yeah it does abit... I was thinking it looked like underwater shadows...

[Sharoo]

Is that like writing with sparklers? Can you explain how you do it?
The closest I have is this but it was a fluke as I had the wrong camera setting..lol

[CANYONERO]

lol, thought it was a good pic until you said you fluked it lol. still think its a good pic though

basically using a longer exposure on the camera leaves light trails.

[Stressball]

Set camera on a tripod, with a 5, 10, 20, 30, whatever length exposure. Or you could use 'Bulb' mode with a remote release, which is when the shutter will stay open as long as the button is held. If you have a locking remote, you plug it in and press the button on it and lock it to keep the shutter open. Then, you get a light source, be it sparklers, torch, lighter etc, and wander around in view of the camera. To get bright streaks like Jester has made you face the torch toward the camera,to get relatively even light spread over a car without the bright lines, face it onto the car and away from the camera.

You have to get the settings right though in order to stop yourself from appearing in the shot. You need a narrow aperture and low ISO so that you dont show up. Also, try not to stand in one place for too long.

[Sharoo]

Ohhhhh Now I get it.. Thanks Stressball.. I might give this a go, even just to learn something new

[minux]

Stress, just a note, aperture and ISO have nothing to do with appearances in a long exposure, it is simply movement, if you stay still it will ghost, if you move it will not. Many night car shoots I have done light painting for have been from f1.4 through to f22 all at either or 50 iso up to 800 ISO. As long as exposure is usually above 5 seconds, and movement is constant you won't see a figure.

[Stressball]

In really long exposures though the aperture or can make a difference, like 40min+. Can be the difference between properly exposed and blown out highlights

[minux]

In really long exposures though the aperture or can make a difference, like 40min+. Can be the difference between properly exposed and blown out highlights

Huh? Of course if your doing 40 minute exposures you may get blown out highlights, wh will be light painting for 40 minutes though lol?

My response was to this

You have to get the settings right though in order to stop yourself from appearing in the shot. You need a narrow aperture and low ISO so that you dont show up. Also, try not to stand in one place for too long.

Aperture and ISO have nothing to do with whether or not someone will show up in an image, it is all about exposure time and movement.

[Jesterarts]

I wish I could use a 800 ISO for my shots... by my camera is too crap and I get alot of noise on long exposure shots with an ISO anything higher than 300.

And yeah, don't stand in one stop for too long.

My understanding is, the longer your exposure, the longer you can be in one spot without appearing as a ghost BUT that also means the light graff effect will begin to fade. The key is to do what you need in the scene as quickly as possible.

That and practise obviously.

[Stressball]

Aperture and ISO have nothing to do with whether or not someone will show up in an image, it is all about exposure time and movement.

ISO does have an effect. The lower the iso, the less movement is necessary to stop ghosting. Raise it higher, and more movement is needed to stop it. More iso = more sensitivity, more sensitivity = less time needed to record light on pixels.

EDIT: Jester, any light recorded will not fade from the shot. The worst that will happen is that the light around it will become more evident, making the graffiti stand out less. Once light is recorded, it stays on the pixels. It will not fade over time.

[minux]

ISO does have an effect. The lower the iso, the less movement is necessary to stop ghosting. Raise it higher, and more movement is needed to stop it. More iso = more sensitivity, more sensitivity = less time needed to record light on pixels.

EDIT: Jester, any light recorded will not fade from the shot. The worst that will happen is that the light around it will become more evident, making the graffiti stand out less. Once light is recorded, it stays on the pixels. It will not fade over time.

*sigh* It is all about exposure. Nothing more, nothing less.

[benjamino]

couple i was mucking around with a fair while ago.

[Jesterarts]

The one in the tunnel is awesome... Nice work...

[Agnu]

Slightly different technique but this guy is a master at it! Must watch this, it's stunning - YouTube - Painting With Light : Lowrider Car

As far as traditional lightpainting goes, I love Corys work for this stuff. It doesn't get much better than this - ZO6 C5 Corvette | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Trayner]

Heres the same effect but using an ipad i found it pritty cool
CHECK IT

[Sharoo]

Found this on FB a guy I went to school with- Daniel Mulder Photography | Facebook there are some pretty cool Ideas in here..

[Jesterarts]

Some random playing around...

[Agnu]

Here's one from the other day. I'm usually a static lighting person so it was just an experiment really - but I like how it came out. Sure light painting only works in the perfect of environments, but when you can get away with it, it is a lot easier to get desired results than static lighting, due to the fact that you can effectively turn a 4x3' softbox into an 8x3' strip light, and have 100% control over reflections. This was done with the modelling light from a strobe with a 4x3' box attached. I was about a foot a way from the car at all times and just walked around and feathered the side/bonnet/front bar.