Light Painting

Light alphabet by Mingyu Zheng, photos by Sally Qiaoxin Zhen

Light painting by Mingyu Zheng, photo by Sally Qiaoxin Zhen

Light painting by Mingyu Zheng, photo by Sally Qiaoxin Zhen

Light painting by Mingyu Zheng, photo by Sally Qiaoxin Zhen

Light painting and photos by Mingyu Zheng and Sally Qiaoxin Zhen

January 2011

Pictures painted by waving a light source in the air and capturing its path with long exposures. Collaborator: Sally Zhen

Keywords: light painting, Light Paint app, mirror writing

My friend Sally and I experimented with various light painting techniques.

The setup

• all external light sources were switched off to ensure total darkness
• the camera was set to fireworks mode, the longest exposure available (about 4 seconds)
• one person manned the camera and tripod while the other painted
• the painter faced the camera and waved the light source in front of her to paint

The light alphabet

The alphabet was painted with the Light Paint app colour set to 'rainbow' and brush set to 'line'. I chose this configuration because the rainbow effect was neat and the 'line' brush was similar to the broad-nib calligraphy pens I'm familiar with. I painted the whole thing in mirror writing, so what you see is exactly what the camera captured - the letters have not been flipped horizontally. The typeface itself is a weird hybrid of traditional cursive and Monotype Corsiva.

Tools used

• a Nikon Coolpix S210 camera
• a pocket tripod
• an iTouch
• fairy lights
• a light pen