Painting with light

1. Hajar Rabhi Filali
Painting with light
Lightpaintingisa photographictechnique thatinvolvesthe movementof lightwhilstthe cameras
shutterisopen.Inorder to capture the movinglightsource youwill needtosetyourcamerato a long
exposure,this canbe anythingfrom10 secondsto several minutesdependingonhow muchlightyou
wantto expose.Lightpaintingisbestdone inthe darkandsomewhere fairlysecludedsothatyoucan
keepincontrol of your image andthe lightyouwantexposedtothe sensor.
Equipmentneeded·
A sturdytripodor solidsurface:If you're usinga longexposure thenyouwill needtokeepthe camera
still toavoidany blur,soa tripodisa must.· A camera that allowsyoutosetyour shutterspeed.Notall
lightpaintingactivitiesrequire alengthyexposure,anythingfrom10-20 secondswill be enoughtoget
youstarted.
Light paintingtools:
Glowstick,torch, matches,sparklers,aflashgun(tolightupyourscene),yourphone,etc.·Wireless
remote(recommended):A remote enablesyoutorelease the shutterandkeepitopenforaslongas the
camera will allowwithouthavingtoholddownthe buttonyourself.Remembertosetyourcamera to
"Bulb"so that youhave full control overthe exposure.·A flashgun:Thisisn'tessential andsomethingI
didn'tneedtouse myself butif youhave one it can be usedto lightupor freeze aparticularobjector
scene before startingyourlightpainting.
The good thingaboutpaintingwithlightisthere are norulesand experimentingwith the differentset-
upsis all part of the fun.Of course,if you're usinga digital camerayoucan instantlyreview yourshots
and tweakyoursettingsif yourimagesare comingoutoveror underexposed.If you're new tolight-
painting,here are a fewbasicguidelinestogetyougoing:
Camera settings
· Aperture:You can use anythingfroma large aperture (small f-number) atf/4to a small aperture (large
f-number) atf/22.As longas youstop downenoughsothat yourpointof interestisinfocusandsharp
thenthat isall that matters.
· Shutter speed:The shutterspeeddependsonyourlocation,the type of effectyouare goingforand
howmuch lightisaroundyou - takingintoconsiderationanyambientlighttoo.If you're inadark room
experimentingwithanobjectthen10-15 secondsisusuallyfine tostartwith..
· Focusing:Set the lenstomanual focusand focusby twistingthe focusringat the your lens.Because
youwill be shootinginthe darkif you setthe camera to autofocusitwill struggle tofocusandthe
camera will tryto refocuseachtime youpressthe shutterbutton.
ISO: It isoftenbestto start withthe lowestISOsuchas 50. I startedoff with50 however,the ISOcanbe
changedso that if an ISOof 50 createsa photographthat istoo dark,the ISOcan be increaseduntil the
exposure iscorrect

2. We have tookoverone lessonlearningthe paintingwithlighttechnique where we draw whateverwe
wanted,inthe studiowiththe lightsoff tobe able to getthe shape sufficientlyclear.Itwas certainlyone
of myfavorite lessonsinthe photographyandphotographicpractice unit.