Long Exposure Photography: A Beginner's Guide by I Still Shoot Film & Milosz Siebart

Author:I Still Shoot Film & Milosz Siebart [Shoot Film , I Still]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Light Painting

What is light painting? As the name suggests, it ’s a technique which allows you to literally paint your subjects with light. It can be used in a variety of different ways, ranging from simply manually adding extra light to some under-illuminated areas to creating abstract or surreal images and drawings made with very condensed points of light.

The basic idea is similar to most long -exposure techniques – the shutter is left open for a long period of time, while the changing light is being recorded on film. The only difference is that in this case, the light is precisely controlled : an operator either uses a handheld light to illuminate certain areas of the image (say, a foreground in a star-trail landscape, for example) or quite literally makes a drawing in the air, in front of the camera (the continuous light movement is recorded as a line in this case and can thus be used to create very specific drawings).

It might seem like a gimmick at first but this technique has been used extensively by professional photographers in anything from landscape photography to product and advertisement campaigns. It’s also not a new technique, far from it – one of its early, and probably most literal examples is a photo series by Gjon Mili, a photographer for Life magazine, showing Pablo Picasso making drawings in thin air with a tiny light point. Made in 1949.

The basic setup can be quite simple. All you need, apart from the most obvious camera, tripod, cable release – is a light source, such as a flashlight, torch light, cell phone, or even flaming pieces of wood. Some preliminary testing is naturally recommended to establish a good starting point for your exposure, as each light source has a slightly different power and color temperature. Naturally, using colored gels on your light source can also be used to add specific color touches to certain parts of the image. The same goes for all the usual light modifiers, such as snoots, to help you concentrate your light source on the details.

As far as the exposure is concerned, determining your ambient exposure is a good starting point, as it will allow you to pin down what your background will look like.

Concerning the painting method itself, keep all your basic flash lighting and light-setup skills in mind : to add more texture to the object, paint it from the side and not head-on; the further you keep your light source from the subject, the less concentrated (and less powerful) your light will be, etc. Also, remember that you might find yourself in front of the camera at some point – in this case it’s always good to be wearing dark and non-reflective clothing so that you minimize your appearance on the image. For product photography, especially in case of actually making abstract drawings with a light source (as opposed to just illuminating darer areas), try passing your light source in front of and behind your subject – it will add a certain tri-dimensionality to your finished image.

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