• TTHS Photography

How to create awesome light painting photography

Light photography is the art of incorporating light sources either to illuminate a subject/space or by shining light at the camera to “draw” and create new elements within the image.

In order to create an amazing photograph there are several routes one can take. Every single detail is important and something as small as exposure or something as important as the Iso speed matters.

First off you will have to set up your camera settings; this includes ISO speed, exposure, shooting mood, f-stop, and shutter speed. Then you will have to choose a background that will suit your camera lighting and your art’s colorful lights. Then focus your imagine while making sure of taking practice shots in order to adjust the settings along the process. Continue by setting up your colorful lights and creating your masterpiece making sure to keep your lights in motion. After completing these steps it will be certain that you have created a masterpiece.

Now in order to create an over the top photograph some extra steps in order to achieve this, camera wise, is to play around with the settings. For example make sure to set the camera to a long exposure and set the ISO speed from either 100-200. Some other small details are things like setting the shutter speed to bulb or to use auto white balance for the lighting purposes.

For the “art/drawing” part of the photograph, focus on a dark background so the colorful lights can stand out better. In order to avoid using a completely black background an excellent alternative is to take the shots during the blue hours so the balance between the sky light and darkness can create dimension in the photoshoot. Most importantly make sure to work with angles to make sure that there is depth in the artwork. A special technique one can maneuver is incorporating head torch to illuminate the foreground and the main subject, then manually focus using line-view. When working with a model a better technique would be to use flashlights that the models will shine on themselves, usually around their feet.

“By taking in consideration some of the small adjustments, your photograph can turn out twice as great as opposed to sticking to basic steps.”

Now idea wise if you were to use a model, the model could incorporate light strings to the shoes. Another idea would be to have the model swing lights in order to create a shining halo around them or even have the model run and their motion would be represented by the colorful lights. When using objects some ideas would be to hang

lights on a hula hoop and spin it in order to create a halo effect or even get a chair and hang lights and spin the chair to create movement. Some other ideas were to place colorful lights on a trampoline and jump. Have people draw out letters to create a word with the lights.

Class of 2021

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