Light-painting, paint the sky in the night

I was introduced Light-painting one or two years ago, when people massively start to upload interesting pictures of them writing in the air.

Gradually, I became curious of how these images are produced. They look strange but funny, especially people shoot objects with light effects: girls with wings, ginger men working through the zebra crossing etc.
Then, our tutor of COMM 116 Linda Hodson took us to an exhibition held in Custom House. I saw a video showing the process of light painting there.

The photographer wore black colour costumes with bulbs on it, then he jumped or swum, the camera captured all the light's movements, they are very catching and look mysterious. That was the first time when I know how people create these funny pictures and I think to take photo becomes an activity that many people could participate and enjoy. They idea of light-painting comes to me like the idea of painting the air and sky.

I remember that a photography teacher back in China told me that to take photos is to paint with the light and shadows. This idea is very similar to the idea of light-painting. But the difference is, light-painting is a creation, is to change the objective world without ruin it. So in my opinion, light-painting is more about to interact with the world, but not to actually change it.

I took these light-painting photos at my terrace in the night, in Wolli Creek. This is the first time that I try to do so. I used my Cannon 400D and set it up on a tripod. The exposure lasted 30 seconds and I used a torchlight to paint.


The pictures are soft and the brightness are actually unexpected. Next time I might adjust the duration of exposure and try to take the camera to a darker place.

For me, light-painting is a way of expression, I like those pictures that people write words with different colours of lights. I fund it similar to the art form of graffiti, but it is more harmless. Although it is deliberate, the spirit of light-painting is very similar to LOMO. I think to take LOMO pictures is to enrich the life with colours and little beautiful surprises, light-painting is a style that allow people to explore their joy of seeing the world on a different angle.