Light Painting Long exposure Photography
Light painting and long exposure photography is a very beneficial skill to understand when taking photos of cars, and motorcycles. In this post I will be explaining what is light painting and long exposure photography. I will explain the technical aspects involved, as well, tips for shooting, and editing to accomplishing a professional style image.
First, what is light painting long exposure photography? Lighting painting long exposure photography is the act of setting the camera on a tripod or flat surface if you don’t have one, and setting the shutter speed to a duration from 1 second to as long as your camera is capable. By doing this you can use external light sources such as flashlights, external flashes, or lighting sticks and you can control where the light hits the vehicle, the level of contrast within the shot and emphasize cures and lines of the subject.
Secondly, what are some of the issues that can arise when doing long exposure photography? As the exposure time is extended you can start to catch lights from the sky, or other external light sources. The tripod must be heavyweight or weighted down to reduce camera shake. When lighting a vehicle, you must pay attention to light direction, light balance and maintain a proper exposure while trying to balance highlights and shadows. Keeping the angle the light is pointed and coming from will give a more consistent look that will appear more realistic and flush to the viewer.
Thirdly, when using this technique it is important to consider the vehicle the ground and background as individual parts. Lighting the ground in sections from front to back to match the car will create a more flush look. While lighting the background it is important to not over do it. Not enough light can be beneficial when creating a moody high contrast look. However, over lighting the background can distract from the vehicle and make the image less impactful. It is very difficult to shoot, and light the vehicle ground and foreground in one image. It can be done but as you increase the exposure time the more likely to capture external lights, and vibration or camera shake.
Lastly, editing can be difficult if you experience camera shake. There are two options within photoshop to correct it. First you can go in and adjust layer opacity to correct it yourself, or there is an option that automatically layers the images for you which can be a good start. However, the automated process won’t always be perfect and its important to check the images.
Once the layers are aligned you can start editing. I like to separate the images for the ground, background, and the vehicle into folders so it's easier to quickly find what I’m looking for. For accuracy its best to use the pen tool to cut out the car, and separate the foreground and background. To cut out the car you can take an image where you expose the car fully, or adjust the brightness to separate the car from the background for creating the path. Once you create the path you must save it or it will get lost. Using the path created use layer mask on the individual layers to hide or reveal parts of the exposure to create one flush image for the car. This process can take a while if you want to be precise, but the end results are worth it. When using the paint brush tool it is important to adjust the feather and brush size to make the lighting blend smoothly. If you don’t, it will look fake as the lighting will be harsh and uneven.
Light painting can be a very difficult skill to learn and master. It’s important to be creative and practice as much as possible to have a workflow and create consistent images. Light Painting and long exposure photography can be a great way to produce profession level images without having access to professional level lighting equipment backgrounds or a studio.
