When I saw Phil's Pet on Flickr (on the left. Click for a bigger view) I knew I just had to learn how it was taken. Gladly for us, Trevor agreed to share the setup and production process of this wonderful light painting.
It came as no surprise that this photograph is a very integrative effort. Integrative in the sense that it takes lots of techniques and puts them into one creative vision.
P.S. no birds were harmed during the production. Click to continue ›
One of the more interesting methods used in lightpainting is Light Stencils. We featured a written tutorial for light stencils a while back, and thought a video tut will help to better understand how to make the stencils "box".
"Surprisingly", the design is very similar to a DIY softbox, after all both are used to make the light come out from a front screen.
Lighting painting artist group fiz-iks just released their video tut on how to make those boxes, and an eighties inspired movie which demonstrates the power of those boxes. Both after the jump. Click to continue ›
One of the most repeated questions we get on our light painting tuts is: "Yes, but how about video? Can you light paint in video?"
Well, the short answer is yes you can, you would need to take roughly 24 pictures per second, drawing and re-drawing your light for every single frame. EVERY.SINGLE.FRAME. There are two great examples for that method embedded at the end of this post.
There is an easier way, though less purist made by kdenlive developer Simon Eugster. You would need some Linux skills (and I know many of you are Linux Ninjas) and the usual light painting tools of the trade. Sample and more info after the jump. Click to continue ›
A while back we featured a BTS that shows how a group of artists used iPads to extrude lightpainting letters from iPads. And I know what you all been thinking. Those artsy folks with their artsy iPads. If only I had that software my light painting extrusions would be far, far cooler.
Well, there you have it. Holographium is an iPhone/iPad app that converts text into iPhone patterns which can be dragged in front of the camera to extrude 3D light painted text.
The app costs 1.99 on the app store here.
And Merry Christmas. Click to continue ›
Light painting is the process of using one or more light sources to fill in a single exposure to create a unique image. If you think of the light like a pencil to paper and then add tools like a Spirograph to the situation you might understand what exactly I am doing.
The light wheel is actually pretty simple and you can get pretty creative with it on the fly. It is made up of a bicycle wheel (any size, however I have found that a 20” BMX bike wheel is a good size), A set of battery operated LED string lights. (These can be purchased from eBay or if you are lucky around October through March you can pick them up at Target or IKEA (any store that sells Christmas stuff is likely to have them). The lights are attached using black electrical tape and I used a bike peg I had laying around as the handle.
In this article, 55125 will teach you how to build your own light wheel. Click to continue ›
As you may already be aware, light painting is the process of moving light sources around during a single exposure to create an overall shot. A more specific way to include light forms into a photo is with `light stencils'.
The light stencil itself is made up of two main components - the stencil image, and something to contain the light while you shoot that image. A shoebox works really well (with the stencil picture cut into the lid, and the box used to contain the light); or alternatively, a portable soft box could be used (with the stencil attached to the front of the soft box).
In this article, TigTab explains how to create a light stencil using a shoe box. Click to continue ›
"As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88mph the instant the lightning strikes the tower... everything will be fine"...
This is just what came into my mind when I saw James kozicka's sparkles lightpainting. James was king enough to share his method of making this image. James, the floor is yours: Click to continue ›
The Dentsu London agency and Berg design consultancy came up with one of the most mind-blowing light painting movies I've seen.
A very simple recipe: Get a bunch of iPads and 3D software. CAT scan (or salami) each of the objects that you want to light paint in the frame. Repeat for every frame to get stop motion animation. Kinda hard to explain in text, instantly figured once seen in the video.
The result is very impressive, innovative and definitely worth the 5:30 minutes the video will take of your debugging/excelling/meeting time.
Rss readers, you may want to click through to see the video (or watch it directly here)
[Via the always excellent @jimgoldstein] Click to continue ›
The following post about creating Circles art in light painting was made by Dennis Calvert. Check his excellent Flickr stream here.
There’s something magical about the perfection and symmetry found in a circle. Today, we are going to learn one way to make perfect circles with light.
The idea is very simple and all the materials for the project can be purchased at local hardware and department stores. Click to continue ›
The following guest post about creating patterns with Light Painting is written by Mark Montgomery (A.K.A maku on Flickr), you can see more of his work here.
There a lots of really talented light painters out there worldwide doing big small stuff and detailed everything style pieces. If I had to choose I wouldn't but some folks take their photos to the next level. From the icy blue rocks and motioned ocean done by Burnblue to the triptastic tunnel work of someone like tcb (who did a few great tutorials for DIYP). Their work always has a real power owing to the huge or subtle location they use. Each does it their own way but to full effect.
I always try to focus on the journey of the light. An ideal shot for me is one with no streetlight or reflected windows and a frame of something that I can't explain but recognize as soon as I see it. I love the use of spaces but I always have enjoyed focusing on the light itself as it flowed momentarily. Trying to add depth with the pathways of various sources or flipping something to create a symmetrical view if I feel it adds to what I was trying to do is usually about it. Here is how you do it. Click to continue ›
