Purpose
When we found out The Great Oaks Career Campuses wanted us to shoot a student project car to promote their Auto Collision Class, we thought it was great until we realized it would require a lot of light to do it right – (4) 800 watt-second studio flash heads to be exact – flash heads that we didn’t have at the time. Coming up with extra cash to buy a $400.00 studio flash head, or yet alone even rent one in Cincinnati, wasn’t an option. Sifting through the internet, we ran across a photographer who was using an arcane technique of long exposures to paint his subjects with light for better illumination, versus what a single light source can do, with an added touch of drama. So we decided to utilize the same technique on our car. Having a long exposure allowed us to spread the light in time, so-to-speak, using multiple flashes from a single head unit to effectively create a virtual bank of lights while providing a unique, defined look that hadn’t been achieved in any of Great Oaks’ previous images.
When we found out The Great Oaks Career Campuses wanted us to shoot a student project car to promote their Auto Collision Class, we thought it was great until we realized it would require a lot of light to do it right – (4) 800 watt-second studio flash heads to be exact – flash heads that we didn’t have at the time. Coming up with extra cash to buy a $400.00 studio flash head, or yet alone even rent one in Cincinnati, wasn’t an option. Sifting through the internet, we ran across a photographer who was using an arcane technique of long exposures to paint his subjects with light for better illumination, versus what a single light source can do, with an added touch of drama. So we decided to utilize the same technique on our car. Having a long exposure allowed us to spread the light in time, so-to-speak, using multiple flashes from a single head unit to effectively create a virtual bank of lights while providing a unique, defined look that hadn’t been achieved in any of Great Oaks’ previous images.
What is it?
In our image of the car, we shot the light facing away from the camera. If you were to shoot the light facing the camera, the image would result in 1.)multiple rather brilliant light sources or 2.)streaks of light similar to the way a paintbrush streaks a canvas with paint. The type of result you get depends on the light source used. Speedlight flashes and studio strobes yield multiple light sources while fire and ordinary handheld flashlights (the kind you use on a campout) gives you the paintbrush effect.
In our image of the car, we shot the light facing away from the camera. If you were to shoot the light facing the camera, the image would result in 1.)multiple rather brilliant light sources or 2.)streaks of light similar to the way a paintbrush streaks a canvas with paint. The type of result you get depends on the light source used. Speedlight flashes and studio strobes yield multiple light sources while fire and ordinary handheld flashlights (the kind you use on a campout) gives you the paintbrush effect.
Final Shot for Great Oaks Auto Collision
The Process
Using a Neutral Density Filter, we stopped the light down by 4 f-stops (designated as ND4), then we set the camera’s f-stop to 10 which allowed for a 15 second exposure on the shutter. Using such a high f-stop value achieved several things: it allowed for a longer exposure, which would have been around 7 or 8 seconds otherwise, it provided a larger depth-of-field (DOF) – ultimately this means the image is sharper throughout – and it allowed us to perform our biggest trick yet – Melissa was able to walk in front of the camera with the studio flash head unit without showing up in our photo!
On a sharper note (pun intended), one would think the higher the f-stop used, the sharper the image will be throughout; however, this is not the case. As a rule of thumb, one should never go above f/16. Above this number, the image you are trying to take gets soft again due to light being scattered internally by the lens: a prism affect that results in Chromatic Aberration or CA for short. Also, knowing the sweet spot for most lenses occurs between f/8 and f/11 helps.
Another secret to such a quality shot is the lens itself; we were using a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, which happens to be among Tamron’s sharpest of zoom lenses. It was a workhorse lens when shooting with the Canon 40D at that time.
Action
On to Painting with Light…with fifteen seconds on the clock, Melissa was able to walk one 800 watt-second studio flash head around the car, setting off the flash at prescribed intervals. Looking closely near the driver’s side turn lamp, one can see the multiple umbrellas indicating the number of times the flash was actually triggered. We also used a large Super White 107” wide paper background roll off the right hand side of the car, held up by a Promaster Background Kit, as a giant reflector. Both of these items are readily available at Cord Camera.
On to Painting with Light…with fifteen seconds on the clock, Melissa was able to walk one 800 watt-second studio flash head around the car, setting off the flash at prescribed intervals. Looking closely near the driver’s side turn lamp, one can see the multiple umbrellas indicating the number of times the flash was actually triggered. We also used a large Super White 107” wide paper background roll off the right hand side of the car, held up by a Promaster Background Kit, as a giant reflector. Both of these items are readily available at Cord Camera.
Highlighted Umbrellas Indicating Individual Flash Triggers
The image was shot in .RAW, a whole other topic, to give us further control over the final look – custom white balance, saturated colors, image lightening to specific areas – and in this untouched version one can see the minimal ghosting by Melissa that was cloned and blurred out using Adobe Photoshop.
Minimal Ghosting May Occur
Fire Me - Self Portrait - 4 Second Exposure
Extras
Using the same technique; an ND4, a higher f-stop value and a long shutter exposure, we have painted several subjects and created various painted images using studio flash heads, off camera speed lights, flashlights, fire…almost anything bright. And sometimes, we just capture ourselves in front of the camera for the duration doing fun and goofy stuff like painting smiley faces, lighting sparklers and spinning fire poi – just a few ideas.
Using the same technique; an ND4, a higher f-stop value and a long shutter exposure, we have painted several subjects and created various painted images using studio flash heads, off camera speed lights, flashlights, fire…almost anything bright. And sometimes, we just capture ourselves in front of the camera for the duration doing fun and goofy stuff like painting smiley faces, lighting sparklers and spinning fire poi – just a few ideas.
A painted street lamp - I was standing in this photograph using multiple speedlight flashes on the column, the long exposure allowed me to enter and exit the scene without being captured:
Street Lamp Column Painted with a Speedlight
Existing street lighting combined with painted flash via long exposure: Photo 1.) Existing Light, Photo 2.) Painted tree with a bus passing by as indicated by the high light traces, Photo 3.) Painted tree with car traffic going by.
Two Various Looks with Speedlight Painting
Sparkler with Long Exposure
Practical Tips & Tricks
Can you capture a night time shot of the city this way? Sure, but be aware, the longer the exposure, the more individual street lights will flare out into star patterns. You may like the creative look, but then again, maybe you need a cleaner image in which case, a longer exposure such as 10 or 15 seconds wouldn’t do.
Can you capture a night time shot of the city this way? Sure, but be aware, the longer the exposure, the more individual street lights will flare out into star patterns. You may like the creative look, but then again, maybe you need a cleaner image in which case, a longer exposure such as 10 or 15 seconds wouldn’t do.
20 Second Exposure - Doug Bowman - Vortex InterActive Student
If you don’t have a flash to paint with light, look for street lamps illuminating things such as this tree in a downtown parking lot. Against the darker sunset, it really stands out. In such a case, you don’t need a long exposure either. Just a tripod and a low ISO if you want to capture it in the best way possible.
Tree Illuminated by a Street Lamp
Another Tree…
Ethereal, Surreal, Fantastic Lighting
Here are three various looks we achieved when painting with an off camera speedlight aka flash; Photo 1. is simply the shot with existing light (without any flash). Need more flashes in your shot? Increase the exposure time!
Various looks achieved depending on the speedlight's position when fired.
Photo 2. was painted with the speedlight turned away from the camera. Photo 3. was painted with the speedlight facing the camera. Photo 4. A painted photo with a very still Melissa…
This brings us to the last tip: this technique is excellent for still subjects, but for people it poses a challenge. Have fun with it though; take your time as people can be photographed when painted with light – they have to be extremely still. More than likely, you will have to shoot them multiple times unless you are fortunate and get lucky at the start. Enjoy!
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