Light Painting with a Flashlight

Written By Doris Woudenberg

ISO 100, f 16, 209 seconds

Light painting with a flashlight is a fun and creative way to capture unique images. Here’s how to do it:

Equipment:

  • Camera

  • Tripod

  • Remote shutter trigger

  • Cellphone or timer

  • Flashlight

Steps:

1. Wear dark clothing.

2. Set up the shot in a room with very low ambient light.

3. Set up your composition, preferably a still life with a small or medium-sized subject.

4. Place the camera on the tripod and frame the shot.

5. Set the camera to bulb mode. ISO 6400, f/8 or f/11, and take a reading. Keep this reading in mind or write it down.

6. Set the camera to remote for the shutter.

7. Focus the shot and turn off auto-focus.

8.Convert the exposure equivalent of the reading at 6400 ISO to 400 ISO. See Flashlight Painting Exposure Chart, if you would like a visual. 

flash light painting exp chart

Going from 6400 down to 100 ISO is 7 stops less sensitive to the light, therefore by increasing the exposure time 7 times by doubling you will get the correct exposure. This calculation can be used for any meter reading that you get.

9. Change the camera ISO setting to ISO you want to shoot image in, suggest 100, 200 or 400.

Now, it’s time to have fun and create art.

1. Set the cellphone timer to the time you got in the second last step.

2. Trigger the shutter.

3. Turn on the timer and start painting around your subject with the flashlight.

I painted the background, around the book, and around the roses to emphasize the texture of the dying and dead roses. I used the flashlight like a paintbrush from a distance. Keep painting until your time is up, release the shutter, and your picture is done!

Here are the two shots I took. I post-processed them in Photoshop and reduced the size of the book to create a more balanced composition.

If you’re reading this blog, it means the course I took with Sharon Tenenbaum on building your own website with Squarespace was definitely successful! I went into the course knowing almost nothing about websites, and Sharon really opened my eyes to so many different aspects of them..

If you have an image you’d like to share, or have any questions feel free to reach out to me.

Have fun!

ISO 100 f 16, 254 sec

Doris Woudenberg