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Today I would like to inspire you to take your favorite subject and photograph it with painted light. Basically, make sure your subject is in the dark…the darker the better.  Then take an appropriate light source, for example, all I needed for my orchids was a flashlight. And manually add the light to your subject.

orchids, light painting

Orchids painted with light.

If you’re out working on a landscape I suggest a more powerful light source.  A tripod is highly recommended and to focus on your subject manually prior to shooting in the dark.  You’ll have to play with your exposure so pay attention to your histogram.

light painting, joshua tree national park

Light painting during the Blue hour. Joshua Tree National Park.

What’s fun about this style of photographing is that you create the mood manually. I think this is such a beautiful way to light subjects.  I used black velvet behind these flowers but if you don’t have velvet just put your subject in the middle of the room and black out the area.

If any of you have great tips share them below.

Cheers,
Janice Sullivan

Find me at Google+

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