Making light paintings with a light tube is a great way to shoot, but it also presents a lot of challenges.
You really have to get into the flow and then the world is at your feet. To help you get started quickly, I have 6 tips for you, so that you can get started. And can enjoy this magical way of photography.
1. Shoot wider
If you are going to make a painting outside in nature, you want to get a nice spatial feeling. It is better to opt for a short lens, such as a wide angle, than for a portrait lens. I like to shoot my light paintings outside around 20mm. This ensures that you get a lot of your background and really put a sense of the environment into the painting. See examples on the beach here.
2. Move slowly
We often feel a bit rushed while making the painting. But that can work against us. Move the tube slowly because the light needs some time to 'burn in' into your sensor. And make your movements as smooth as possible.
3. Keep your eyes on the tube
We have to pay attention to everything while making a lightube painting. And then sometimes we overlook things. The LightTubePro has a foil side and a transparent side. Keep a good look at the tube because if the foil side turns towards the camera, your camera will hardly get any light. So keep the transparent side of the tube facing the camera with every turn.
4. Use your wrist
Most tubes, especially the holographic tubes, give off a lot of color when you make small rotations with the tubes. Therefore, use your wrist to make small turns, but make sure that you always have the transparent side of the tube facing the camera. See examples of the rainbow silver tube here.
5. Use strobe mode
The good flashlights (such as the Folomov 18650S and the new Folomov Hero ) have a strobe mode that gives you beautiful patterns in your painting, like here with the Harley Quin photo . Or here at the last photo (use arrow) at the bride with the pattern that matches the fan.
6. Vary the strength of your flashlight
You are always looking for balance and beautiful patterns. To make the background lighter, you can open your aperture further. You catch so much more light on your sensor. But this also means that your painting might be too bright. Therefore, vary the strength of your lamp. For example, both the Folomov 18650S as the new Folomov Hero a large amount of strengths. And the flashlight remembers it when you turn it off, so you're always in the right place for your next painting.
This way you can create a brighter effect or a much more flaming effect, as you can see here with the Dutch Orange .
Have fun making your paintings.