How Long Exposure Trick Photography Is Used to Do Light Paintings

Light paintings are one of the more stunning examples of long exposure trick photography. You're literally painting with light. You use a camera to take a long exposure photograph, and then move a bright light source around it. Also, just like a magic trick, consider this a spoiler warning if you want to continue to be baffled by how light paintings are made.
The trick is that the bright light acts as your brush, so you have the freedom to move it around and create interesting shapes or even form words in front of the camera. Or you could move the camera instead. If you're feeling particularly brave you could actually toss and spin your camera in the air. You could get very beautiful light paintings with a bit of patience and creative uses of light and colors. There are people dedicated to taking light paintings by tossing their cameras, and the results are often spectacular.
When you use long exposure (also known as time exposure) photography, stationary objects appear still and in sharp focus while moving objects creates blurring and smearing. Long exposures are easier to do in low-light conditions otherwise you'll need very bright lights or specially designed equipment and cameras.
Because of this, light paintings are often done in the dark. The other side effect of low-light conditions is that fast moving objects can literally disappear from the image. This leads to interesting situations where you can photograph a still object in long exposure mode, and then run in front of the camera with a bright light to do your light painting. If you move fast enough and your clothes doesn't reflect much light, you will not be seen in the photo. You will only see the still object and a trail of the bright light. This explains why you can only see headlight and taillight trails but not the individual cars in pictures of highways or roads during night-time.
This is actually very important for light paintings because you don't want to see the "painter" in the photo. The illusion of light trails appearing or hovering around your subject without any clues as to what made it just make the picture that bit more magical.
During the daytime long exposure photography are less commonly used. The most familiar pictures of daytime long exposure pictures are those of waterfalls. Long exposures blur the moving water so it has mist-like qualities while keeping stationary objects like the trees and rocks in sharp focus.
Now that you know the secret behind the magical light paintings, you can still admire the creativity of the people who created them. But the truth is that anyone with a camera and a flashlight can use long exposure trick photography to create beautiful and fun light paintings.

Learn Digital Photography Now

Light paintings are one of the more stunning examples of long exposure trick photography. You're literally painting with light. You use a camera to take a long exposure photograph, and then move a bright light source around it. Also, just like a magic trick, consider this a spoiler warning if you want to continue to be baffled by how light paintings are made. Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie - Very High Conversion Rates. Read More

An Introduction to Light Paintings in Trick Photography

Light painting is a unique trick photography technique which involves the photographer making some exposures by moving his camera or his hand-held light-source. This technique was first used by Frank Gilbreth and his wife in 1914. Frank Gilbreth used an open camera's shutter and some small light sources to trace the motion of various clerical and manufacturing employees. However, Man Ray is actually the first art photographer to use light painting in his 1935 series the "Space writing". The results are so mesmerizing that even today we still find many photographers finding new creative uses for this technique.
Light painting techniques
As mentioned there are two ways to create this trick photography effect, mainly by moving either the camera or the light source. The technique of moving the camera is also known as camera painting.
1. Camera painting
This is actually the opposite of the traditional photography and it involves you taking your camera off it's tripod and using it as a paintbrush in a dark-room or at night. To create a simple but unique camera painting all you need to do is use the cityscape as your palette, the night-sky and your camera as your brush. Simply put some energy into moving your camera by stroking your light-sources, laying down your background and making some patterns.
2. Moving your light source
This technique involves you selectively illuminating various parts of your subject using your light source or painting an image by shining it into the camera's lens directly. This trick photography technique needs a slow-shutter-speed of about a second or even more. A good example of this technique is Picasso's light drawings series which he did after being visited by Mili Gjon, a lighting innovator and photographer in 1949. Milli introduced Picasso to his photographs of various ice skaters who had some light sources attached to the skates. Picasso created this pictures in-the-air using a small flash-light in his dark-room. "Picasso draws a centaur in the air" is one of his famous and most celebrated photographs from his light drawings.
Light painting can also be done by projecting various images onto different irregular surfaces light buildings, bodies or even faces among others and then painting them using a light. Another development in this field is the light-art-performance photography (LAPP), which involves the integration of the scenery and the background of the subject.
Equipment used
Different types of light-sources like a flashlight and a hose-master, which has a fiber-optic light pen, can be used to create these photographs. This is actually the main equipment you need for the job. Other light sources include matches, lighter flints, candles, fireworks, poi and glow sticks.
A tripod can also come in handy, especially when long exposure-times are involved. You can also place your camera on a solid support like a table when you do not have a tripod. Make sure you always have your shutter release cable or a self-timer to help you reduce camera shake. To improve the quality of your trick photography or change the mood in your paintings you can use a color gel to color your light sources as well.

How to Do Trick Photography And Special Effects

Light painting is a unique trick photography technique which involves the photographer making some exposures by moving his camera or his hand-held light-source. This technique was first used by Frank Gilbreth and his wife in 1914. Frank Gilbreth used an open camera's shutter and some small light sources to trace the motion of various clerical and manufacturing employees. However, Man Ray is actually the first art photographer to use light painting in his 1935 series the "Space writing". The results are so mesmerizing that even today we still find many photographers finding new creative uses for this technique. Become Unique, Creative, And Artistic By Taking Breathtaking Photographs That Blow People's Minds Away! Dozens Of Rare Trick Photography Ideas Are Included In This 295 Page E-book, Along With 9 Hours Of How-to Photography Video Tutorials. Read More

How Trick Photography and Special Effects Can Make You a Better Photographer

Understanding trick photography and special effects is about understanding the limit and potential of your camera in relation to light. If you want to quickly become a great photographer, then consider starting a photographic project to take trick photos and special effects.

Think about how most people try to become good at photography. They take their camera, go out, and snap away. Nothing wrong with this, but if you have a clear goal to master a specific technique then the learning process is focused and therefore accelerated. The bonus is that you will specialize and get beautiful and interesting photos along the way.

Understanding light

You'll find that understanding light is probably the most difficult aspect of photography. It is also the most important. You can't have a photograph without light, so you need to understand how light behaves under different shooting conditions. Great photographers pay great attention to the study of light so that they can recognize and create a particular mood or effects with light. Not all light are the same, as they can be harsh, soft, warm, or cooling. The direction of light can be as important as the quality of light. You can use different illumination such as direct, backlit, or side-lit to extract different texture, shadow, and details from your subject.

Light paintings or drawings are among some of the trick photography techniques that is done using long exposure photography. The results are often spectacular but deceptively simple. It is simple to start, but can take a long time to master. Light paintings or drawings are created by taking a long exposure photo and manipulating the light source to create an effect. The more common examples are of people drawing their name using a flashlight with a photo taken at night. The more creative you get with this simple idea, the more interesting pictures you'll get. So when you start taking trick photos like these and experiment, you'll gain a greater understanding of light.

Understanding your camera

The other side of it is to understand how to capture light. All digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) has a shutter between the camera's lens and sensor. Pressing the button on your camera to take a picture opens the shutter for a duration of time, and then shuts it back up. This basically controls how long you let light flood the sensor so you can freeze a moment in time.

Aperture controls how wide the hole in your camera lens are. The bigger the opening or diameter, the more light hits the sensor. With aperture you control how much light to let in to the camera sensor, but also the depth of field. You also control how sensitive the sensor is to the incoming light by setting the ISO. The higher it is, the less light is needed to capture a scene with the risk of introducing noise to the picture.

A good way to master your camera is to learn to take levitation photos. These trick photos usually depict people floating or flying without any means of support or digital manipulation, so the action is captured in the camera as-is. The secret to creating these pictures is to simply jump and freeze the action with your camera. Again, a technique that is very simple to use but takes time to master.

The main element in freezing time with your camera is the shutter speed, but other settings like aperture and ISO matters. A fast shutter speed freezes a moving object, but requires more light. You'll need to balance and adjust these elements to ensure that you can freeze an object without blurring it, otherwise it ruins the illusion. Doing this exercise pretty much forces you to understand and experiment with your camera till you get it right. Along the way, you'll have greater understanding of how to make the most of your camera.

Start taking trick photos and grow fast

You can speed up photographic learning process by just applying these two trick photography techniques. When you have mastered them, you'll have understood more about the relationship between light and camera than most photographers!

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Understanding trick photography and special effects is about understanding the limit and potential of your camera in relation to light. If you want to quickly become a great photographer, then consider starting a photographic project to take trick photos and special effects. Learn how to take sensational photos! 6 powerful photography eBooks bursting with tips - in one essential package. Includes the full Slr guide, editing guide, composition guide and making money with your camera triple guide. Read More