Light painting a car

[olli.pekonen]

I'm planning to use light painting techniques to light tuned

cars of a car club in street surroundings at night time.

 

Due to light pollution in the streets, the conditions are

challenging: it is not easy to create bright enough "painting light"

to create substantial contrast of the highlighted main subject and

background. A hotshoe flash fired tens of times is totally

inadequate.

 

Has anyone tried a similar setup:

 

a) not completely dark surroundings

b) on-location work

c) large subjects (in the size of a car).

 

My next guess would be using a halogen floodlight powered by

generator... getting a bit clumsy.

[john_jovic]

HI Ollie

 

I have done this quite a few times however it has usually been at the end of a shoot where the light has gone and I've simply played around to get an 'effect' good bad or indifferent. It often works well, sometimes rendering the best shot of the day, simply because it looks a little unusual.

 

I've used my headlights to light the car as it drives by, painting with light but the wrong way around where the car moves instead of the light. Several pics on my web site are lit this way www.jjphoto.com.au

 

I've used a powerful torch to fill the details during sunset shoots and to illuminate the entire car, painting it with light.

 

I've also used a handheld flash to light the car from several different angles whilst walking around the car, and this also works OK.

 

You will have several problems to consider.

1/ You need to test whatever technique you choose to use so either shoot polaroids or use digital and make adjustments on the fly.

2/ If the street lighting around you is too bright then move to a darker area rather than fighting an impossible battle. To paint the car with light you'll need several minutes whilst most street lighting will give you a complete exposure within 15 to 30 seconds at a normal f stop so you might have to rethink and simply find a slightly darker location, but with the feel you are after.

3/ flare (check the roids or digital).

4/ reflections of the lighting in the panels of the car (check the roids or digital). If you walk around a car with a light pointed at it then a light trail will be reflected in the panels.

 

JJ

[shawn_hooper]

Some of those super (1M candlepower) brite spotlights. Some come with their own power (battery) and some plug into your cig. lighter. They should be brite enough.

[bill c.]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Due to light pollution in the streets, the conditions are challenging: it is not easy to create bright enough "painting light" to create substantial contrast of the highlighted main subject and background. A hotshoe flash fired tens of times is totally inadequate.

 

Has anyone tried a similar setup:

 

a) not completely dark surroundings b) on-location work c) large subjects (in the size of a car).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yep. Used to do this all the time, in the days before digital. You don't have to find a completely dark area, just a very dark area. As long as the streetlamps are a hundred yards or so away--sometimes half that will do, depending on how bright they are and which way they're pointed--they usually don't have that much effect on the image. They can tint it, but it's usually via glance lighting that adds interesting effects to the edges of the car.

 

When I did it with Vivitar 285's, I'd set the exposure at f16 or f11. I'd find a dark place in the parking lot where my meter said the ambient would require an exposure time of at least a minute to register at that f-stop, and rely on reciprocity failure to make that even less.

 

With digital you won't have the reciprocity failure to help you out, but do some experimentation. If you can get a powerful battery pack that will get your flash to recycle very quickly, you can get by with shorter exposures. I usually liked to work with a minimum of 30 seconds or so, but if you work really, really fast you can get in a good ten pops in half that time.

 

Best of luck, and happy shooting. -BC-

[sc21]

Great answers. In fact, I've never thought of doing this, but now I'm going to give it a try.

[joe_r1]

With a reflective object like a car, it may be easier to use a flashlight than small flashes. Maglites have a focusable beam which gives you more control. I also use 15W Halogen bicycle lights (Nite Rider) with great success, and the batteries last a long time. In many cases a 1 million power or stronger flashlight may be too strong, but these can be useful for lighting very dark areas or backgrounds. Gels can be used to control color temperature and for color effects.<br>

<br>

Oftentimes at dusk you will be able to get a 30 second exposure in a darker area if you stop down. This is usually enough time to add some painting effects. I generally try to schedule shoots like this within 2 days on either side of the full moon - once it gets dark you can keep on shooting, and the exposures can range from 4-10 minutes depending on your aperture. Experiment & have fun!

[olli.pekonen]

First, thanks for the really cool answers. They helped a lot.

 

Here's a try of my Volvo V70 midst a cold cold winter night in Finland. The car is dirty, but still shines a bit oving to this treatment.

 

Specs: 300W halogen floodlight (meant for indoor renovations) worth $10 used (needs power cord). 8 secs at f16, ISO100. Canon EOS20D with Sigma 17-35mm. This is the result of about the 3rd try.

 

Things to do and not do:

 

1) walk straight and smoothly - sweep the car with light, do not jerk it.

2) avoid spillage of light backwards. The unit is not light tight automatically.

3) use dark clothes

4) experiment with different heights.

5) avoid tripping the tripod with the cord

6) rehearse especially the first and the last second of this job

 

Have fun with this technique. With proper equipment, I think it could replace far more complicated flash setups used in car studios.<div></div>

[randall paul]

Great subject guys as I always normally combine hot light with custom made lights for painting Now only digital applications as it is faster and cheaper. Experiment as above mentioned rehearse. I normally find I like longer exposure times for combined painting though Good luck RP

[smithpic]

With a little photoshop work, and the right kind of light it can work ok. This (http://www.smithpic.com/lightpaint.jpg) is a 100watt light, with skrim on the front, and masked slightly. Three images comped together afterwards. Each image was a 10 second exposure. Crucial that you have a good tripod/stand. Clearly I'm not pointing the light AT the car... *TIP* The highlights you see are a reflection of the light being moved, at no point aside the the seat inside the car was the lighting ever pointed at the car.