Photographers love sunset light. The color is warm, the quality is unsurpassed, and the angle is perfect for capturing shape, form and texture. While sunset light is fantastic, as soon as it’s over, the vast majority of photographers leave a scene. Some of the best light of the day awaits those who want to explore dusk light. The color and shape of the light is more subtle and it imparts a quality unobtainable at any other time of the day. I encourage you to give it a go. Yet once dusk turns to near black, there’s still another world of photography that awaits. The world of painting with light.

© Russ Burden

Without light, pictures can’t be made. If there’s no light, it must be added. Here’s where light painting with artificial sources comes in. Some of the givens are to get far away from other light sources that will impact the image although I have benefitted from street lights that provided subtle fill. You need to plan out the shoot as the time of day at which light painting looks its best is critical. Plan for a late night, especially if you’re doing this in the summer. Use a locking cable release as most camera’s auto exposure feature tops out at 30 seconds. Start with a fresh battery and have a spare just in case. And by all means, set your camera to long exposure noise reduction. Doing so means longer “processing time” so rapid fire is impossible. The rule of thumb is if the exposure is 45 seconds, it takes 45 seconds to process the photo so you need to be patient before making the next picture. 

© Russ Burden

Light Source:  I’ve used everything from car headlights to flash but found that my most reliable source is a two million candle power rechargeable utility light. I use it like a paint brush to specifically impart light where I want it. It provides control and by working the “brush” in a smooth way, the light is even. This is important in that you don’t want to create hot spots. An additional bonus is it creates a nice warm color with the white balance on cloudy. 

© Russ Burden

Quick Tips:

a) I recommend you remove all filters, especially those that cut down exposure such as a polarizer.

b) use manual focus - once it gets dark, your autofocus sensor may not be able to find a point with enough contrast.

c) find subjects where you can focus at infinity so you can shoot wide open. Stopping down the aperture may mean too long of an exposure to obtain the desired effect.

d) check the calendar to see the phase of the moon. Light from a full moon vs no moon will produce vastly different effects. Both work, but with different results.

Exposures: There are numerous variables that dictate this. You’ll have a window of time that starts about 30 minutes once the sun below drops below the horizon and continues for about a half hour. Factors to contemplate are: 

a) distance of the subject from the light source.

b) intensity of the light - for outdoor subjects, use nothing less than a million candle power.

c) size of the subject - the bigger it is, the more time you’ll need to paint it.

d) how many lights you use and if you have an additional person painting with another.

e) the aperture needed to cover the depth of field.

f) the ISO setting you use - it’s better to use a longer exposure than to increase the ISO so the file will have less noise.

As you can interpret from the above, experimentation is necessary to get the best exposures. I guarantee you’ll get strange looks from passers by and be asked what you’re doing but that what makes it even more fun.

To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.