Light painting is an awesome intuitive form of modern art in which continuous moving light rays is being captured on a lens to create a distinct appeasing figure and shape. I have done a piece on shadow art as could be seen on this link:https://steemit.com/art/@osita/introducing-shadow-art-or-top-20-set-piece-shadow-art and I taught it will be wonderful in presenting a follow up art form crafted with the opposite element “light” and show the wonderful works that can be unveiled through this technique.
Looking up on Wikipedia for a detailed description, we get “Light painting, or light drawing, is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure.”
An array of light emitting source could be used. This include flash lights to more defined light sources such as the fiber optic pen, hose master, candles, fireworks, and even as extreme laser light could get the job done. During the camera long exposure time, the lens needs to be in a ridged fixed position to avoid outputting a badly distorted image.
Previously, this art style was used to paint on moving light sources with predictable paths such as the rear and front lamps vehicles plying through a busy road, and the lighttnning path during a thunderstorm. But theses times both the light path and the space is controlled by the artist in other to perfectly convey his artistry illustrations.
A tripod stand is usually needed to attain this, but when one isn’t at arm’s length, the camera may be placed on or braced against a table or other solid support. A shutter release cable or self-timer is generally employed in order to minimize camera shake. Color gels can also be used to color the light sources.
Some light painters make their own dedicated devices to create light trails over the photo background; this can include computer-controlled devices like the Pixelstick. These devices are often Arduino-controlled LED arrays that can render images that could not be made by drawing in the air with a single light source alone.
Camera capture devices must be set specifically for this purpose. If camera is a professional pro device like the Canon, Imax, Kodak, Nikon, the settling can be easily chosen on the go by simply scrolling through the shooting mode and selecting the long exposure photograph.
When using handheld cameras that are coupled to our modern phones, the user’s ingenuity in photography must be employed. Now I must say, not all phone camera can attain this feat. Not even that of the IPhone X or the Samsung S8 and Note 8, so I guess you can now start dropping those phones. I personally use my Nokia 808, Its pretty old and crackly, but it gets the job done decently.
THE ISO of any such camera to be used must be set to between values 50 and 1600, that depends on the lightening of the environment and the brightness of the light source to be used. This could be adjusted between until just the right balance is attained by viewing image through the handhelds screen. In low-light conditions, Allow exposure times of up to 2.7 seconds and set the ISO low (so, 50) for ‘noise’ free pictures. When the ND Filter is on and the ISO value is manually set at a low value (such as 50), the camera will use long exposure times (up to 2.7 seconds) and beyond – even in bright conditions.
Below includes some of the best and adoring light paintings specially handpicked by me. They reflect the elegance and precision that is characteristic of such art piece.
Thanks so much for your time. And I hope u had a lovely time with the arts. @osita
