If you move the camera, you must turn your autofocus back on and refocus.
Beginner’s Guide to Light Painting
Do you want to use light painting for stunning results? Do you want to discover all the ins-and-outs of light painting so you can create otherworldly images at night?
You’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I’m going to share everything you need to know about light-painting techniques.
And by the time you’re done, you’ll be able to light-paint your images with ease!
Let’s dive right in.
What is light painting?
Light painting is a photography technique that uses a moving light source (e.g., a flashlight) to add light to a subject while taking a long-exposure photograph. A scene or object can be brought to life by painting with a beam of light.
When light painting, you, the photographer, become an entirely different kind of artist. Instead of just capturing an image as it’s presented, you create the image that the camera is capturing.
Now, light painting may take lots of patience and practice to perfect, but the results can be very rewarding.
And it’s important to recognize the simplicity of lighting painting – it’s a lot like any low-light photography, except you are putting an external light source in motion to enhance an image.
Let’s take a look at some of the basics for beautiful light painting photography.
Tools for light painting
Before you start doing light painting, you’ll need to make sure you have the proper tools:
- Camera – Any digital camera capable of manual settings (including Bulb mode).
- Tripod – One of the most important tools to produce light paintings. In most cases, your shutter is going to be open for several minutes, and it is very important that your camera does not move during the exposure.
- Shutter release – Either use a cable release or a remote shutter release to begin your exposure. If you don’t have either of these, use your camera’s self-timer function to initiate the shot. It is very important that you never touch your camera or tripod during the exposure.
- Stopwatch – A stopwatch or some other way of timing your exposures is helpful, since most light-painting exposures will use Bulb mode.
- Light source – Many different types of lights can be used for light painting. These light sources are your “brushes” and may include flashlights, torch lights, lasers, glow sticks, flashes, cell phones, and even candles. Just about anything that can produce light can be used for light painting. Note that different light sources will produce different colors of light. For example, an LED light source will produce a cooler (blue) colored light, while a halogen source will produce a much warmer (orange) colored light.
- Color gels – Color gels can be used to alter the tint of your light and add color to your painting.
Sea glass art ideas
Think about the image you want to create with the sea glass. There are lots of ideas for designs you can create. Flowers (like daisies or lupins), hearts, a simple wreath, a tree, or even a sail boat are a few suggestions to get you started with your sea glass craft project.
How to make sea glass wall decor
Card stock trimmed to fit your frame
Matting will add a professional touch to your artwork
Marker or pen for additional markings
Pebbles, or small twigs if you want to add other natural elements to your artwork
Step 2: Working with sea glass
Spread your sea glass out on a surface. Arrange the pieces in front of you. Play around with them to see what will work. This may spark the design you want to create. No two pieces of sea glass artwork will ever be the same. Every piece of beach glass is unique, in colour, in shape, and in size. Flower petals can be pointy or round, stems can be long or short. A heart can be a simple outline, or the heart can be filled in.
