Painting with light
A different form of art photography
If the expressive art of photography is fundamentally ‘light writing,’ then what could be more expressive than actually writing with light? Your photographs with take on the personal feel of painting, combined with the inherent beauty of photography. Most people think photography is about stopping time; for many years, Kodak’s slogan was even ‘Capture the moment.’ It’s thought that the photographer’s job is to capture the subject by freezing it. But as the camera exposure extends, a new type of image making begins, altering reality and allowing the photographer to directly interact with the subject.
What is Painting with Light?
Painting with light, in this context, is a long duration exposure where the photographer directly introduces light into the scene of the photo. This is commonly done with a hand-held light source, such as a camera flash or flashlight. The basic concept is this: the camera records information only the illuminated part of the scene. Imagine that your scene is completely black; you’re going to photograph in a cave no matter how long the exposure… hours, minutes, days… nothing will appear on the film. Now imagine -you’re still in the cave- and you light a match in front of the camera. That light will illuminate the scene for a moment, showing the things near the match: your hands, perhaps your face, maybe a bit of your body. The film records information where the light was. Everywhere else is still black. The camera records the light it sees, so it doesn’t matter if you light the match during a 1 second exposure or a 2 hour exposure… the camera only see the match light.
Two kinds of painting with Light
There are two ways to think about Painting with Light; one, where the photographer’s illumination is the only light the film records (like our example in the cave above). This requires a completely dark scene, such as an inside room of a building with the lights out. Two, a combination of the photographer’s illumination and that of the available light of a scene. This requires a dim but not completely dark place, such as outside at night. The time the lens is open will slowly expose the film; depending on the available light, film speed, and aperture, this can be a very long exposure indeed. Painting with Light is connected to night photography for this reason.
Technical concerns for Painting with Light
- As with any long exposure, putting the camera on a tripod is necessary to avoid camera shake (unless desired). On shorter exposures (1-8 seconds), lock up the mirror (to avoid mirror shake), if your camera has one.
- B (bulb) or T (time) setting. The ability to extend the exposure is essential. Many modern cameras use an electronically-controlled shutter, and long exposures can drain the battery quickly. Look for a camera with a mechanical shutter. If you aren’t sure if your camera uses the battery for the shutter, take the batteries out and click the shutter in the B setting. An alternative (albeit more problematic) solution is to use a multiple exposure setting, and build up the image over several exposures. Make sure to keep the camera as steady as possible.
- Dark, non-reflective clothes will help avoid ‘ghosting,’ your see-thru after-image that appears if you walk in from of the camera during exposure. This is only a concern in scenes with some ambient light.
- Film speed. Your natural inclination might be to use fast film for dark scenes, but this isn’t necessarily the best choice. The film’s sensitivity is tied to exposure length, and in scenes with ambient light, longer will often be better. My preferred film is Poloroid P/N film, which is ISO 40.
- All aperture settings will work with Painting with Light; as usual, f/8 to f/16 tend to be a lens’ sharpest settings. Depth of field isn’t as critical as you can refocus for each part of the scene before illumination. Focus is less critical with wider-angle lenses, as depth of field is greater at all aperture settings.
- Film type. Any film can be used, color or black/white, negative or slide. Transparency film has less latitude than negative film, meaning areas of the scene that receive little light will probably stay black, and areas with lots of light will go pure white. Color film will display shifts based on the color temperature of the light… flashlights will appear reddish, street lights green, etc.
Light sources
Do you prefer to paint with a brush or a sprayer? They both apply paint, but the result is very different… and the same is true with flashlights and flashes.
Flash (strobe)
A flash will give you large, bright illumination over a large area, and if you have a understanding of guide numbers and illumination distance, a very accurate amount of exposure on the film. Flashes are also daylight balanced for color-film users. Because it is difficult to see what’s illuminated when you flash, controlled exposure of a specific area is difficult.
Flashlights
The flashlight is the standard tool for Painting with Light, as it gives visible, controlled illumination. The amount of light tends to be smaller too, and can require multiple passes to build up exposure (depending on aperture/film speed combination). I prefer using a Maglite- it give nice, bright light, has a focusable light spot allowing the adjustment of the size of the light source, and with multiple D-cell batteries, lasts a long time. Many also like mini-lights, which give out very fine and small amounts of light.
Pointing the flashlight directly at the camera will appear as a white smear in the image – the photographer drawing directly onto the film! You can be deliberate, such as writing your name in light, or spontaneous: dancing around, running, hopping, or waving with the light. With this kind of Painting with Light, you’re never exactly sure of what you’ll get, so experiment!
Image: Painted Desert, circa 1993, by Ron Johnson
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