Light Painting / Light Graf

[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...