Light Painting.. but sucky..

[shesells]

Hey guys, I really need help! I'm trying to learn to do that " Light Painting ' and this is my first attempt. It sucks royally, I know. I need advice from anyone who has done it and can give me some tips. Here are some of the problems. First, its impossible to even see what you are trying to focus on because of the dark. I tried using a flashlight to focus with but I don't have that many hands. lol I did set up the tripod and practice for around 3 hours last night.

Another problem is that while the pic is being taken with a long shutter speed, the LCD screen goes blank, so you can't see what you are attempting to paint. I just figured you have to guess at it. I tried finding information on the internet but there really is very little.

I would like to do a whole house but would never attempt that till i get a bit more knowledge. Thanks for any hints you can give me.
Kit

[shesells]

again.. if anyone knows about this stuff, please help.

[SmartWombat]

You'll have no better view with an SLR or DSLR because of the mirror locked up while the shutter is open !
I think you will be surprised how much light you need to use to paint with.
If you have a 30-40 second exposure then you can light maybe 2 or 3 areas with 10 seconds of light.
Or maybe 5 flashes of you run fast

What did you do with the light here ?
I think I see a green light of perhaps an LCD screen on a flashgun lower left.
Then the other patterns are from a torch maybe?

[shesells]

Paul, I think you're right about the amount of light needed. I notice that I didn;t use anywhere near enough. um.. you know those things you mentioned that you think I used? What are they? Those are the kind of thing I need to know... I never thought of using an LCD screen. I did hear of torches but the only kind I know about are ones with real fire! I barely even use flash in my photography. What I did use was little tiny LED lights. One green and one white. I have other stuff that I'm gonna try using but would love it if you would fill me in on those other choices. Have you ever done any of this? It's fascinating, but you're right it is hard and you have to run your legs off!
Kit

[Steph_B]

Does not look easy. Actually, it seems that you need to prepare quite a bit for this. There was an article in Pop Photo last year about this. Maybe you can get a copy through their web site.

I have no experience whatsoever in this, but if I had to try, I would select a subject that I can shoot over and over again in the same condition. I would then take a normal pic of it, make a print out and decide what to 'paint'. I would also make sure that I know exactly how to put the tripod and camera in order to get the same frame. I would also use the bulb setting of the camera and cover the lens whenever changing the light setup.

From what I read, it takes tremendous amount of light with different filters. I guess you would need to get a powerful torchlight and colored filters. People that specialize in this also get quite a bit of help form their 'assistants'.

Not easy, but it sounds really exciting though! Good luck!

Cheers,

Steph.

[Toronto iCANd]

I have a question.
What in the hell is a light painting?

[shesells]

Steph: Actually thats a great idea about taking the pic first, then deciding how to light it and where. I spent like three hours just guessing the other night, but I did learn a lot. I learned that I didnt have the right equiptment, cuz like you said, I need tons of light and only had two little led lights.. Beleive it or not but those lights were $50. for three. ( at Brookstone) absurd! But the package said it would work for up to 2 miles... well they should have dumbed that down for me because now I think it means you can see the light from 2 miles away but the light definately wont light up something even 10 feet away. lol doh! I ordered some gels and will keep trying. I got to find out what a torch light is, then get one.As for assistants... yeah right.
Kit

[shesells]

icand: Heres a basic expaination.. You go out in the pitch dark and take photos of things only using light from different sources to light what you are photographing. You paint the light on the subject like it was paint. Set your shutter to a long shutter speed. The rest, im trying to figure out myself.

Kit

[Chunk]

I got to find out what a torch light is, then get one.As for assistants... yeah right.
Kit

A torch is what some folks around the world call a flashlight.

A couple years ago there was a guy posting photos that he made using the method you are trying. (Was it Sailorjerry? Someone help me out here.) He had some terrific shots of abandoned buildings and old cars. I think he described his methods when people asked. I tried a search but it may not have found stuff because it would have been on the old site. PJ may be able to tell you where to look if you ask him real nice. The links to the old forums didn't work for me today. I don't know if any of his light painting shots would be in any of the archived Photo Projects but it's always fun looking through those. I think you are headed in the right direction. You can walk through the scene and manually pop your flash as well. stay out from between whatever you are illuminating and the camera unless you want a selfportrait.

[shesells]

Chunk: Thank you so much for going through all that for me. I'll try searching tomorrow or pm-ing PJ. The funny thing is that I did get in front of the camera but not in front of the light and there is no sign of me in any of the shots. weird!

Kit

[Steph_B]

In the December 2003 issue of Pop photo they had a page or so concerning light painting.

Check this website too if you have some time: www.enlight-10.com

I was not to clear on whether they use colored filters on their lights, or if they use always white light and use different color filters on their lens. Mystery....