Painting with light at home

For the following images I have used the technique 'Painting with light' One of which I really enjoyed experimenting with. I used a dark space (small hallway with the door closed to make sure no light could get in) I used my daughter Charlotte-rose as my model, she quite enjoyed be my little helper! I mounted my camera on a tripod, setting my camera to manual, I set my ISO to 100, shutter speed to 20 seconds and my aperture to F22. I framed and set my focus point manual with the light switched on. Once I had got the shot set up I switched the light off and used a torch to light my subject, 20 seconds is generally a good starting point for the shutter speed with this technique, it allows enough time to move the torch around during the exposure. If you are using a larger torch (giving more output) you can get away with less time and if you are using a smaller touch with less output you would need to increase the exposure time. Most cameras will allow for a maximum of 30 seconds.

I also tried this technique at night time in my living room. I placed a variety of 'Peguine Classic' postcards on top of a small table. Using the same technique I achieved some good results. As well as these images I also shot an image of a stack of my favourite books; I controlled the light by only moving the torch up and down in the middle of my framed shot, I did this because I wanted to add more darkness to the edge, just lighting up the book titles as that was main focus; I wanted the viewers eyes to be drawn to the books. Another shot I tried was to arrange a still life set up with a coffee theme using a coffee mug, a percolator and a jar of coffee beans; I think this worked effectively and the subject is well lit.

Overall I am happy with my final images, especially as it was my first attempt at 'light painting'. I would definitely use this technique in the future, it is such an interesting, creative and fun way to experiment; I also feel that this technique aids in the learning process regards shooting in low light conditions and controlling light itself, to achieve the results you want.