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Jun 2nd, 2010 |
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Want to light paint like we did here?
It’s easy! Here’s what you need:
- A camera that can do long exposures, or has a “bulb” mode. You can do this with a camera that does 10-30 second long exposures as well. Any DSLR will do this, and a lot of point-and-shoot cameras will have a manual or “shutter priority” mode.
- A tripod, or a way to lock your camera down.
- Lights! Flashlights, LED lights, anything – these will be your “brushes”
- A dark room, or nighttime
- If you want to be super fancy, a camera flash (or just another camera that has a flash!

The idea behind light painting is that if you open the shutter, you can draw lines by moving the flashlight around in front of the lens. So hold the shutter open, get in front, and try drawing something in the air. If you have a camera flash, you can have someone stand in place, and flash them. Then have them hold still and draw around them. Experiment!
Some tips:
- If it’s not pitch black, cover the lens between moments when you’re drawing. That way you don’t accidentally overexpose your frame.
- Point the lights at the camera, but not necessarily directly at the lens – doing that might blow out the frame and get unwanted flares.
- If you don’t have a flash, you can light things up by moving the flashlight beam slowly over the entirety of what you’re trying to light. The longer you shine a light at a certain area, the brighter it’ll be in the final image
- Set your aperture to as high as it goes, and your ISO to as low as it goes. This’ll minimize ambient light from the environment.
- If you’re doing painting, wear dark clothing so that you don’t show up in the final shot.
[...] given enough time and dedication. It was created by Freddie Wong, who also published a tutorial for creating light painting photographs on his website. This amazing 1-minute video required a whopping 13 hours of shooting over two days. [...]
[...] Here’s the Behind the Scenes video and if you’re feeling inspired, Freddie’s been kind enough to post a brief tutorial. [...]
Hi, let me know if I could understand what you said, you’re using how many Fps? I have a sony DSC-w130, after seeking a little the menu I could find the burst mode but I can´t take long shots :S, anyways you’re making this in video mode right?
Thanks for sharing your videos and tutorials
Hey man nice work on the lightstuff, check my first laser writin pic i ever made a few months ago, just by hand and nikon d90 .
http://www.freecreations.blogspot.com/ scroll down to see the twitter me pic. lol, greetz Lenny J.
Heya Nice video! Buddy of mine linked me to your video after we did some light painting whilst on a camping trip last night. Here’s some shots :
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=470306&id=670105257&l=9fea18abbf
Hey, nice youtube channel!
Here are some lightpainting my friends and I have done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_burnsie/sets/72157614022689473/
ok im still cunfused can you show a video to make it a bit easier?
lazer
the great thing about LED light is that they do not generate lots of heat’-:
Hey guys, that’s an awesome article. Do you mind if I post a trackback on my site? You’ll probably get some traffic from it. It will be fun to read more.
Hello, As a Newbie, I’m constantly searching on the internet aol for posts which will assist me. Thank you.
LED Lights last much longer than incandescent bulbs and yet they consume less power:.*
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Very informative post. Really a lot of useful information. Very happy I found your site. Will bookmark it and return for more information.
Check out our light painting for a visual art contest with the theme speed:
http://grahahaphicdesign.blogspot.com/2010/11/visualart-challenge-2010.html
Comments are welcome.
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[...] 23) Light Painting Tutorial [...]
This was really an attention-grabbing topic, I’m very fortunate to have the ability to come to your blog and I’ll bookmark this page so that I may come again another time.
Buen canal
I can’t wait to try this. Thanks! And great video btw. How long did it take you to complete?
Beautiful. All clear.
SO I got a question in your behind the scenes vid. you were flashing someone but were you already exposing the photo? (don’t know if I typed/said it correctly)
Is it possible with a Nikon D3100?
Hey Freddie,
I’ve watched your videos and now am really keen to do this for my art major work. But because ive never experimented with light painting before just wondering is there some sort of program to piece together all the photos and what is an ISO? Thanks Em
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[...] Freddie Wong, maker of this epic light painting battle, offers very practical advice without getting too focused on technique. His best tip? Have those doing the painting (the non-subjects) wear black to blend in. [...]
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hey guys sorry I’m new to this stuff but do you light paint in camera mode or video mode? and how did you guys draw the gun without someone in the picture holding a light? thank you!
These videos with light are beautiful. There must be a lot of work mounting behind.
Don’t bother with this next year – more cost cutting!