Twinkle, Twinkle...
I have wanted to give painting with light a try for a while. Everyone says it is easy - and they couldn't be more right. It only took about ten shots before I figured out everything and produced a couple of nice results.
You don't need much to do light painting. You just need:
Your Camera (which is, of course, taking the photo of these items)
A tripod
A remote trigger (this probably isn't required but it worked great)
A light source - my little bendy book light worked great (trial shots with my big mag lite didn't so a focused light is really important I think)
A really dark night (seriously - way too cold to do this outside today) or a room you can make completely dark. My guest bathroom played that role perfectly tonight.
Taking the shot is as simple as the tools you need:
Turn the shutter speed down to what I call the manual control - the shutter stays open as long as you keep the shutter button pressed down. On the Nikon you dial it all the way down until it says Bulb.
Line up the light with the lens.
Press the shutter button and draw.
When you're done with your masterpiece, release the shutter button and check your results.
That's it. Adjust and take more shots!
To finish these shots I played with the white balance and exposure control in Light Room to get the background as dark as possible. I'm going to have to try a laser pointer or other colored light sometime to see how that might work but with this little LED guy I got pretty decent whites and blues. Very fun and very easy!