Light painting tools question

[brannend]

I messed around with a flashlight during a long exposure very early in the morning a week ago. Just a mag light with batteries that were likely on their way out. I have been thinking of trying to learn more about these techniques but I have a couple of questions that I would greatly appreciate some help with.

What sort of light source works well? Shooting long exposure (15-30 seconds or more) landscape / nature shots and would like to light up the objects in the foreground and such.

I am speaking of things like xenon bulbs in flashlights, LED flashlights and such. DOn't want to spend a bunch of money so I am not considering LED panels.

I understand the overall effects of light in regards to direction (from camera, side or raking light) but if you have any input I am anxious to learn more.

Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you!

[DanK]

They are simply different, because they have different color temperatures. Incandescent and halogen lights have a yellowish cast. LEDs can be anything, but the common ones are much colder, bluer light. I wouldn't spend much. Just take a couple of different kinds of flashlights with you some night and experiment, to see which you like.

[Rob Ekins]

David,

You could buy a filter pack such as this one I found on ebay, place them on your lamp one at a time or mix and match to get varying results. I would start with the daylight/tungsten pack

Hopefully the sheets are labeled (I don't use Chris James filters) and you will be able to learn what a 1/2 shift etc in colour correction will do to your light source.


Robbie.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Hey David here is a youtube. The first link this guy has it down pat WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK_tBOT8xDc

http://improvephotography.com/380/li...tography-tips/

This light can be dimmed and has color filters also.
http://www.amazon.com/CREE-X-Tactica...9775918&sr=1-1

Hope this helps you out some. I want to get my hands wet with this also but will have to be later on. Good Luck with it.

[Plumcrak]

David, I have used varying flash lights (ones that I have around the house and garage) and sometimes a 1,000,000 cp rechargeable spot-light. I have fashioned several different covers for the spot-light that have different size holes in them so I can direct a more focused beam of light. When I go out I usually have at least 8-10 different lights with me and just experiment with them until I find the one (or combination) that works for me with the setting I am in. Sorry I am not much help. Best of luck and most of all, have fun and post results.

Cheers

[brannend]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Everything that has been said will be surely attempted and helpful in one way or another. I have included an image from last week so that you can see what I miserably failed at in regards to my first attempt. My focus was on lighting the stump to the right, the snow in the immediate foreground and I tried to illuminate the tree at the left. My assumption is that the flashlight I used ( a basic "C" cell maglight) not only had weak batteries but was not the best light source to start with.

I believe I need to work on light temperature, strength and duration for starters.

You should be able to see a little extra illumination on the stump and the foreground snow.

Here's the image data if it will help in your criticism and suggestions for me (I appreciate everything you can tell me, positive and negative).

Canon 5D mkII, 17-40mm f4L at 29mm, manual mode for 30 seconds at f18, ISO 100 and evaluative metering with minimal PP (sharpening, shadows and highlights...)

[brannend]

Hey David here is a youtube. The first link this guy has it down pat WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK_tBOT8xDc

http://improvephotography.com/380/li...tography-tips/

This light can be dimmed and has color filters also.
http://www.amazon.com/CREE-X-Tactica...9775918&sr=1-1

Hope this helps you out some. I want to get my hands wet with this also but will have to be later on. Good Luck with it.

Hi Carl,

I really appreciate your input. I'm going to search out something like you are suggesting. I'm not so worried about the color temp as I can manipulate that in PP, but I really want something bright enough with the ability to alter output or "softness / hardness" of the light. The image I posted is really an incredibly sad first attempt, but it is the first attempt and certainly not the last.

Thank you everyone!

Dave