Cloning in lightpainting

co22wen · May 9, 2012

heyy like i said before ive been experimenting with lightpainting and its really cool so i saw this one on facebook: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...76874270_100000203256004_582466_6345982_n.jpg

do you think they did this in photoshop or light paint?

CowgirlMama · May 9, 2012

That's a long exposure and light painting.

co22wen · May 9, 2012

how tho? i mean so lets say i put it on 30 seconds so how long do i stay in one place lets say holding a gun and when do i move to the kneeling position

Jarrod268 · May 9, 2012

15 seconds in each? The great thing about photography is it lets you experiment. If you're curious about something - try it! If its digital it will cost nothing but time and I will say this - I've learned more from trial & error situations than I have ever learned from someone telling me the answer.

co22wen · May 9, 2012

Jarrod268 said:
15 seconds in each? The great thing about photography is it lets you experiment. If you're curious about something - try it! If its digital it will cost nothing but time and I will say this - I've learned more from trial & error situations than I have ever learned from someone telling me the answer.

yeah i know that but i did try this before. so for example i put 30 seconds shutter speed and then i go on the frame then when i move its all blurry and u cant see. im a beginner in photography so i dont know many things

CowgirlMama · May 9, 2012

The person in that picture is not crystal clear. The reason you can see through him is that he moved before the shutter closed. If you have a long enough shutter and move quickly enough, your movement shouldn't show much in the final shot. I've only played with long shutters a very little bit, but that's been how it worked for me. I wrote words with a sparkler and you can see my "ghost" behind each letter as I moved along, but not my movement between them.

co22wen · May 9, 2012

ok thank you so much. one more thing. i think im going to have to use my flash but do you think im going to need a flash guN? thanks!

Tony S · May 9, 2012

That can be done another way using two different lights. Using a remote or the built in timer set the camera for a long shutter speed to get the ambient light in the background, then have one flash pointed to the first location you want to be standing having it fire with the opening of the shutter (first curtain sync). Now quickly move around until just before the shutter closes to your final position and have the second flash fire with the closing of the shutter (second curtain sync). This should give you a good balance of ambient and both flashes to get the shot. You might have to experiment around with the power settings on the flash units to get exposures that won't overpower the ambient.