I took this series of shots a while back and I thought it would be a great way of breaking down a shot into its component parts.
Putting together a complex Lightpainting shot is not that hard if you break down the final image into steps. Once you have nailed the techniques and settings for each element it is just a case of putting everything together.
The title image was created during a single long exposure with my mate 
It involves two tripod positions, a mid-exposure lens swap, complete darkness and an attention for detail.
Firstly I decided where I wanted the figure and hole in the wall to appear in the frame. I set up tripod one with a 50mm lens on the camera pointing towards the hole. Adjusted composition and noted where the dark space was placed and worked on the direction, colour and intensity of the lighting.
Next up I swap lenses to wide angle and move to tripod number two ensuring not to change any of the settings on my Manual 50mm lens. I frame up the scene with the silhouette in it and ensure it sits within the confines of the hole.....
This test shot above was where I took up position as the silhouette and Chris worked on how to illuminate me, where to walk with the digital light wand and the best settings to capture the scene. This is where using older manual lenses comes into its own. With modern automatic lenses your settings are locked in for the length of the exposure whereas on manual lenses you can constantly tweak the aperture and focus for the duration of the shot.
After we were happy with all of the elements it is time to do it all in one long exposure.
Fire the shutter on tripod 1 with the 50mm lens on. Illuminate the wall as with the test shot and replace the lens cap, swap lenses to wide angle and move to tripod 2. Remove the lens cap, take up positions and Chris waved the light wand behind me and walked it out of the frame. Job done.
This technique does mean that most of our shots take about 30 minutes to work out but the more Lightpainting you do the more complex the shots become as you progress.
Here are a few more shots we have created using the same techniques....
It's all about finding a dark element in one scene and then placing something else in the frame to fill it. You don't always need to swap lenses mid-exposure either, so don't let that put you off. I just like to do it as you can force two perspectives into the shot for added weirdness.
It's a lot of fun to do and when you get the bug you'll be constantly on the lookout for places to make things appear.
I love it.
I hope you enjoyed this set and that it has given a bit of an insight into what Chris and I get up to when we are out in the darkness.
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For more examples of innovative and original lightpainting including camera rotation photography, check these lightpainters: 
