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Light Painting – Creating The Orb

Nov 18, 2009 by Udi Tirosh 1 Comment

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response to dynamic loads (by { tcb })The following article is a guest post by Dana Maltby a.k.a. Twin Cities Brightest a.k.a { tcb } an addict to Light Painting.

In the last Light painting installation we saw the huge variety of tools and toys I use for creating Light Painting Art.

One of the things that came strong in the comments was the need to bind those tools to the actual process of taking the image. Well, now I am going to do just this.

So let’s talk about the hottest and most natural object to paint with light, the orb. Also known as a sphere. The good news is that orbs can be made with light quite easily.

What You Need


 sophisticated framework of rational choice (by { tcb })

The basic tool you need is a light on the end of a string. It can cost as little as one dollar if you just tie a single LED on the end.

The photo above, for example, uses two LEDs on the end of a string.

And Here Is How You Do The Orb

What you do is pick a point on the ground and once you spin the light around keeping it the same diameter, you walk in a circle making sure the lights reach the point on the ground each rotation.

See what I am talking about in this video:

On/Off Control

In the photo above, you can see where the lights had to be turned on at the beginning of the shot, and hence leave a trail of light up to the orb. One solution for this is to walk out into the shot and with your body between the camera and the light, turn on the lights hiding them from the lens.

I used the method of hiding the lights from the camera for a while and then realized that I needed a device with a switch so I could turn off the lights without ‘reeling’ in the string. The problem was solved when the holidays came around and I found battery operated holiday light strands at the store.

Right away I realized I could hold the battery pack with a switch in one hand, and spin the lights with the other. On some strands I needed to cover up a few lights so there was enough cord to swing them, other strands had a few feet of wire before the lights started.

Messed Up Orb

3 screw ups for you (by { tcb })

Above, you’ll see a messed up orb. Just a reminder of some things to avoid.

You can see my body slightly and you can see where the spinning of the lights stopped and was incomplete. Remember, you.must.complete.the.circle.

Like everything else, you may be very good at orbs right away, or you may never get one to look perfect but light painting is a style. You will develop your own style and maybe never care to do orbs. However it’s always worth a try since spinning lights around in the dark and turning in circles has never looked so good =).

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

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Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: light painting

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.net

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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