Research: Light Painting

For our next task, we were asked to research 'something'. So, as a 'something' I've been meaning to look into for a while, I chose to research Light Painting, a type of long-exposure photography that involves using light sources to 'paint' words or patterns on an image. As the shutter is held open for a long period of time, light is 'burnt' into the frame and trails remain visible when the shutter closes and the image is processed.

(Rendez Vous - Light painting by Christopher Hibbert)

Through my research I learnt how to 'paint' with light in an image:

• Shoot in a dark room or at night
• Set the shutter speed of the camera to match a little longer than how long it takes to 'paint' the image
•  Set a shutter countdown and position yourself in front of the camera.
• Once the shutter is open, aim the light source towards the camera, and move it in brushstrokes, 'painting' the image.
• Wait until the shutter closes and check the finished product on the camera.
• Post-process in Photoshop, if needed.