Eagle Eye: Photography Techniques

Light Painting:
Light Painting is a photographic technique in which the light from a moving light source (like candles, torch or fireworks) is captured. The objective is to capture the trail of light as it is moving in a pattern, design or spelled as a word. This can be achieved by either moving the light source or moving the camera while the shutter is open.
- To capture the the light trails, the settings are similar to Fireworks photography.
- Use of a tripod is absolutely necessary since the shutter speed is very slow. Also, use of remote release or self timer is very useful to remove the shakes caused by pressing the shutter button on the camera.
- Use Shutter Priority mode to set a slow shutter speed (e.g. 3s to 10s) or use the Bulb mode to start capturing the exact moment when the light source starts and stop when required.
- Use a higher f/number (more than f/8) to ensure that the light streaks are very fine lines of colors and not thick bright lines.
- Set a low ISO (e.g. ISO 100) for minimum noise.
- Use Manual focus if the Auto-focus doesn't work properly in low light conditions.
- Enable Long Exposure Noise Reduction setting if available in your camera to reduce the noise in the photo.
- If you are also capturing a person (subject) along with the light source, use flash to illuminate the subject. The subject needs to hold very still while painting with the light source or they will come out blurry in the photo.
- If you want only the light source painting and don't want the person to appear in the photo, use a small source of light which points the light in the opposite direction of the person (like a torch). The background should be dark (like a darkened room) and no other light sources should illuminate the subject. Disable the flash and ensure that the person wears dark clothes and moves continuously, so that they are not captured for a period of time while the shutter is open.
- An alternative to using a person to shine a light by moving is to paint or write a message on a wall using a laser or torch while the shutter is open.
- Another, technique of light painting is to capture a smoky/soft photo of some objects or a person. This can be achieved by moving the light source or an external flash in a circular motion (or in linear motion) to illuminate the subject. In this way, the harsh shadow of the flash is eliminated giving the subject a soft appearance in the photo.
- Light Painting can also be used to create some illusions like multiple clones of a person in a single photo or a hanging face of a person in the photo. This can be done by using an external flash to illuminate each position of the subject to create multiple exposures of that subject in different areas of the photo or just illuminating the face of the subject keeping the rest of the body in darkness.