Light Painting

There are so many reasons to love summer and one of the top on the list is fireflies. How can you not love something so incredibly pointless as light-up butts. All the other bugs in the world seem to find their mates without the need for blinking behinds. But that's what makes them so great, the nonsensicalness that is magical, that is summer. 


Anyways, I attempted to capture the firefly magic on camera with a long exposure shot but it was not as exciting as I thought it would be so I began running around with a flashlight instead. 

The one above is actually my dad.

This one's me

These were just done with a flashlight covered with our hands (hence the pinkish tint) but this would work great with sparklers, a glow stick, or even a cellphone light. 


To do light painting you need a camera that you can adjust the exposure time, I used my Cannon Rebel XS, a tripod, and a flashlight. To get a clear picture you really need two people, one to old the flashlight at the distance that you want it and one to focus the camera manually. You can play around with the shutter speed, in the second photo I had the shutter opened for the maximum 30 seconds (that was a really long time when running around in circles).


So have someone stand and hold the flashlight still to get the light focused. Then touch the photo button and don't touch the camera again until you hear the shutter close. The person with the light can run, jump, spin around, or even try to spell his or her name (just remember to spell it backwards), or draw a picture. Have fun with it and it's sure to be a surprise to look at once you're done.