Sunday, August 29, 2010

Light Painting With Photography

The whole basis of photography is the reaction between light and a light-sensitive material, such as film. While most people rely on this reaction solely for capturing memories of times they shared with friends and families, others utilize photography as a form of art. One intriguing type of art photography is light painting.

Light painting was made famous by Man Ray, the avant-garde American photographer who called the technique "space writing." Now, light painting is popular in a variety of different fields, such as wedding photography. You might have seen a picture of a bride and groom drawing a heart in the air with the light from a firework sparkler.

On the other hand, you might have accidentally participated in light painting. If you take pictures in darkened areas without the flash on, sometimes cameras will automatically lengthen shutter time. Thus, if you move or bump the camera while the shutter is open, you may notice any sources of light to be oddly streaked in the same pattern as your movement. This is unintentional light painting.

Light painting is basically smearing the appearance of a light source across your photo, whether film or digital. As the light traces its way across your viewing screen, it also forms a streak across your picture. When you control this movement, you can can create interesting shapes and images from the light, which will stand out from the darker background.

When you are looking to perform light painting, there are a few things that you can do for set up. First, you will probably have to change a couple settings on your camera. Make sure that your flash is off; otherwise, it can spoil the brightened effect. Additionally, you may have to lengthen the amount of time that your shutter is open by slowing its speed. This will give you enough time to form the shape that you want out of the light.

Of course, you need to choose a darkened area so that your source of light will show up. You also need to pick what the main light source will be. This may be a flashlight that someone is waving, or a solitary light that you will turn into a streak by moving your camera. If you want to capture an image of moving light, you should consider putting your camera on a tripod or other stationary object so that your accidental movements do not throw off the trace of light. If you want to make a stationary light seem like it is moving, you can move your camera in the same pattern that you wish to appear in light on your film.



Source : ezinearticles

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