Light Painting on Cars

IanClark

IanClark

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Friend and I decided to light paint on his car.

First time ever trying this and it was another guy doing the painting. I'm rather pleased with the result of a 1st attempt.

WDYT?

Aperture: F10,
Shutter: 181 Seconds
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 10mm

904726380_i3Pwk-O.jpg
 
No idea what your talking about.... But love the picture:)
 
Cheers Kipax :)

LOL Painting with light is literally just that.. - But do not use real paint AT ALL!!! :D

Basically, we got the car in focus (nice bright point of light). Switched to fully manual mode and set the camera on BULB mode for indefinite exposure based on requirement.

Set a nice small aperture to provide working time and then went to town with a mag light on the car. By putting the torch into the tighter beam, we shone it at close range on all the prominent features of the car, grill, stripes, headlights etc.. basically all the main lines and features. - Painting light onto the car.

All the time the camera was capturing this and the end result of 3 minutes work is what you see here :) To avoid getting in the shot, constantly move around and wear black. Paint back over places you've already done to ensure coverage.

It looks rather effective doesn't it :)
 
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A bit of stray light towards the middle of the car on the grass which you might have been better off without, otherwise a great shot! I love a bit of light painting but I do sometimes struggle with precision. You never know until you look at the final image!
 
Looks great, very HDRish, though I think you should have made the grass even throughout rather than the odd bit here and there
 
I think this is wonderful (the un-even grass is just tat off-putting) Inspires me to have a go at this.
 
Wow I like this and think it looks great. And thank you for the small tut to go with it. I dont think my MK II Astra will look as good as this but I'm gonna have to go and have a go now.
 
Cheers guys...

There are certainly a few flaws and they'll be taken into consideration next time we have a go :). It's fun to do it..especially when they guy painting the light almost knocked himself senseless on the wing mirror :D
 
That looks really good, especially as it was your first attempt. :clap:
 
Thanks again all :)
 
I reckon that's awesome! And a nice car too! I'd do the same to mine if it wasn't a 15 year old rusty peugeot ;)

Really impressive, especially for a first attempt (y)

Chris
 
Must've been quite late to get the sky such a wonderful dark blue at this time of year on a 3min exposure. Well judged/ calculated.

The idea of picking out the car's features with light is sound but I think a bit more light on the rest of the car wouldn't go amiss. Either that or make sure you've comped the car in a position where it won't get lost in the background - roofline, c-pillar and rear wing are all a bit tough to make out. Having said that, the reflections on the top of the windscreen and bonnet suggest you did try to define the car better.

Keep at it, it's a strong first try. Check out the flickr groups Cars at Night and Light-painted cars for inspiration and technique ideas.
 
Cheers Chris,

And Andrew too. I'll going to have a long delve into those groups. :)
I think the image was shot around midnight in a field just off Lake Ullswater so yes, very dark :)

Much of the credit goes to the guy with the torch to be honest but I did shout out areas he needed to go over as I could remember them :)

Thanks for the CC's. Appreciated.
 
Flippin' Nora... that's brilliant :clap:

Well done, especially for your first attempt!!
 
this is pretty cool effect tbh, wonder if it would be worth trying with diff colour lights
 
I really like this. Could you tell me though, how did you get the light to be so precise and not just light the whole car?
 
:) Thanks again.

Peter, having the torch quite close to the body work so that the light is focused more on a smaller area as opposed to being further out. You then get the splash of light just off the main lines of the car which gives the extra character to the shot.
 
Nice shot



MD
 
That's really neat! Gives the car a kind of ghostly "Ghost Rider" appearance. Gotta give that a go on my car - although my S reg old banger of a Seat may not create the desired effect. :D :LOL:
 
Cheers MD, Ian :)
 
Nice work, like it a lot. Might have to wash my car and give this a go at the weekend!

J
 
this is a great shot!!! really great idea and i shall be giving something similar myself!

what kind of torch/power were you using?! a small pocket light and a mag lite?

LOVELY STUFF MATE!!
 
that is stunning! you make it sound as though its easy to do...... wonder how many pics i'll delete before i get even a quarter as good as this!
 
Cracking image!!!!
 
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