Going to try light painting today...

[Zaimarie]

Yes. I've scheduled a light painting session for myself today after work. Never done it before. Tips? Advice? Oh, and what are the best lights to use?
Also... I bought a fisheye lens. It seems like it only comes handy with skyline or action shots. With everything else, the fisheye effect doesn't seem to fit. Thoughts?

[Vuokko Vuorinnen]

advice for the lightpainting: get a tripod, a wide angle lens (tried it once with my 50mm and it was really hard to get the light in the view of the lens). A regular flashlight, or led flashlight or even a cigarette lighter seems to work best for me. I wouldn't try any laser since they can damage the sensor

advice on the fisheye: experiment! fisheye portraits, landscapes, architecture are also pretty nice. Try putting your camera on the ground, or above your head, experiment with perspective and the distortion of the lens!

Btw: what lens did you buy? I'm also in the market for a fisheye but they are expensive...

[Hila Friman]

i used an LED light when i did mine:)

Exposure: 10 sec
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO Speed: 800
and it turned out like this

[Vikdaddy]

I would keep the exposure open for longer and the keep the ISO down for a cleaner image. LED lights are perfect for light painting.

[martyjk]

L.e.d. for sure, but dont forget a good flashlight for illuminating a subject. : )

[Carlita Edwardo]

most of mine on here and flickr are sooc so check out the exif info for what the settings were ... the main 'fun at my place' obviously is a montage so you'll have to go to flickr for the relevant info ....

[Zaimarie]

Where can I buy one of these handy dandy LED lights? @misschuff @martyjk @vikdaddy @hilafriman @vuokkovuorinnen

[Vikdaddy]

anywhere! It's just a bssic torch but with leds instead of a standard bulb. petrol stations, tool shops, supermarkets, etc...

[Darren Griffen]

I found this guys link pretty useful, I used a bog standard torch doing mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/griffend69/sets/72157625181791023/

[Jaydee]

1tripod,
15 sec exposure
ISO 400
AV (-1)
white balance (auto)
2 pcs pen lights

[Rae (Stationary315)]

it's alot of fun (: tip - move fast, and stay moving. if you stay in one spot for too long you'll show up in the picture (: i didn't read through all the comments, so if someone said that already..my b (;

[r nelly]

I don't know if this qualifies as light painting, but this quite fits into the topic. I suspended a flashlight on the ceiling with a string and placed the camera below it while the flashlight revolved in its "orbit". the noise was added in PP :)



Tripod
Exposure: 60 sec (60/1)
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO Speed: 100
Focal Length: 42 mm

[Rachel Counts]

Do you keep it on bulb setting in the dark and just do whatever and hope you get what you are trying to 'write' in the dark?

[Tabitha]

I like using glow sticks, they produce some awesome colors and are even better when you get a friend or two to help you out.

[The Steve From 2010]

What Vik said. I've used maglite torches for all of mine, they're pretty bright guys

[Amy Evans]

I usually go to RadioShack, buy the two pronged LED lights in all sorts of colors and buy some small stand alone watch batteries. When you press the two prongs against the battery, they light. You can tape them down and hold several at a time. It's so beautiful, especially if you want small precise lines in a variety of colors. It's great for painting scenes. I had some students paint with light and do an entire forest outside with many people helping. They had green and brown lights and every color to make little flowers, It was GREAT!

And here's a good website on how to: http://www.photographymad.com/blog/post/painting-with-light

Here's a pdf link that I use when I teach my digital and drawing students how to do it.
http://www.danipontus.com/danipontus.com/Downloads_files/Animate-with-light.pdf

[Sam Spence]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiamum/4101371775/in/set-72157622674258575/lightbox/

I LOVE Painting with Light..it is one of my favourite things to do..this is one..of millions I have taken lol, this is one from my Flickr gallery..

If you ever need a hand, just...let me know

I hope it goes great x

[Zaimarie]

@storme @amyhughes @eyebrows @eyebrows @rmcbuckeye @tassah
Thanks, all! I'll post my best light painting picture soon. :)

[Carlita Edwardo]

@nellycious trippy! never thought of THAT! nice one.

[Carlita Edwardo]

like others I just use basic torches of different circumferences and use a variety of coloured cellophane or cloth to get different effects.

@amyhughes thanks for the links .. know I know how to improve ...

[kody]

It's a ton of fun and can get tiring haha, make sure you have a strong light, but make it strong enough to show up according to the speed of your shutter and iso, but not to strong, cause it will blow out the picture and just look like a big light, so test a couple different flashlights. But for me I didn't even need LED light and I was able to get this, and best to use manual, and set a long shutter so you can get infront of the camera and out, without being caught in it too. For a lot of detail, get a shutter release that can lock. Get out and try, it's exciting to see how it works out!

[Casey Labatt]

Light painting is great, but it takes some skill. Don't get discouraged when your pictures don't come out quite right the first time though! Just keep experimenting until you get it right. As most have said already, a tripod is a must. If you can find one, a remote shutter for your camera is also good to use to reduce blur when you press the shutter button. If you can't find one, just use the self timer. I built some light pens using instructions from http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Light-Drawing-Pens-Tools-for-drawing-light-do/ . Good luck!