First attempt at light painting

[jl1975]

I tried out light painting for the first time last night. Camera was on tripod, car was parked in a dark corner of my lot and I used a mechanic's work light as my light source. What do you think? Any suggestions for next time?

1.


2.


3.


Thanks.

 

[Geaux]

If you are trying to light the car without trails, put light in front of you and walk with your back to the camera lighting the car. At least in #1 you looked like you just tried to light the vehicle, the other two the trails are obviously put in there on purpose so I'm not commenting about those.

 

[C4n0n.Fan]

Pretty sure they are all on purpose. A little more to light the rest of the car up would be good I reckon.

 

[julianliu]

The light trails in the second and third picture are distracting to me. I would prefer to make certain pattern like around the car etc.
To eliminate the trail, you need something like a snoot for the flash light. Put the flash in front of you and walk with your back to the camera will block the light in the car as well.
I like the first one by the way. Good luck.
-Julian

 

[minicoop1985]

Have you thought about writing with it? Maybe something like Mazda or making a logo? Here's an example I took a few months ago-only was a test to see if i could do it, so pardon the quality...:

 

[jl1975]

Thanks for all the comments. I must admit that some of the light trails were intentional, but not all. I'll try keeping my back to the camera to avoid the extra light trails. I also thought about trying to write something in the air, but I was running out of time. The great thing about all of this is that even if the pictures aren't great yet, it's still rather fun.

 

[Braineack]

too busy. You want to be bringing out the lines of the car, not your own.

 

[jl1975]

too busy. You want to be bringing out the lines of the car, not your own.

Good point. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Thank you

 

[nola.ron]

When I do it I keep my back or side to the camera to block the light. Use the highlights along the car's lines. Edit everything else out. Only leave the light trails if there's a nice pattern. The trails should also be higher up from the car in this scenario to keep them off the car when you do want to leave them.

 

[Eclectix]

If you don't move the camera between shots, you can merge two or more of them together using "lighten only" mode on layers. This way time won't be an issue and you can spend as much time as you like getting the trails you want on multiple exposures. Here's an example I made by blending your three exposures together. I also used a mask to black out the light trails.

 

[jl1975]

Nice job on the editing. I was using a tripod, so I'll give that a try.

I think that with all of the good advice, I'll be better prepared for next time. Thank you all for the help.

 

[C4n0n.Fan]

I know what you mean by fun. My kids and I had a ball writing their names :mrgreen: