# Art drawn with a flashlight



## MartinDWhite (May 11, 2011)

First off....I did not do this....but it is totally awesome. 
I think it was done with a long exposure and a light of some sort. I found it on a graffiti forum I also read. There are a few other pictures in the set that use long exposure with light to get other effects, but this is one of the coolest I think.

http://www.stencilrevolution.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28772&st=2310


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## skyfire (May 11, 2011)

looks awesome!


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## EZO (May 11, 2011)

This technique has been around for quite a long time. Perhaps the most famous examples are the photos made by Gjon Mili in 1949 of Pablo Picasso drawing in the air in a dark room and first published in Life Magazine.

*Pablo Picasso's Flashlight Centaur

From LIFE MAGAZINE:

* "Renowned LIFE photographer Gjon Mili, a technical genius and lighting innovator extraordinaire, visited Pablo Picasso in the South of France in 1949. Mili showed the artist some of his photographs of ice skaters with tiny lights affixed to their skates, jumping in the dark -- and Picasso's lively mind began to race. This series of photographs, since known as Picasso's "light drawings," were made with a small flashlight or "light pencil" in a dark room; the images vanished almost as soon as they were created. However, while the "Picasso draws a centaur in the air" photo is rightly celebrated and famous, many of the images in this gallery are far less well-known -- and equally thrilling."



























More at this link:
http://www.life.com/gallery/24871/image/50695728#index/0+


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## USRobinson (May 12, 2011)

WOW! I have been searching for ages how these pictures are made, I always though that this was some form of computer animation... but I asume that this requires some form of specialized camera?


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## Helmut.G (May 12, 2011)

USRobinson said:


> WOW! I have been searching for ages how these pictures are made, I always though that this was some form of computer animation... but I asume that this requires some form of specialized camera?


it doesn't. the camera needs to be able to take pictures with long enough exposure, ideally it should have a manual control but if it's dark enough most cameras should work.


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## Obijuan Kenobe (May 12, 2011)

I played with this a while back. The key word is MULE.

My son's name is TJEUKE. I even dotted the 'j' pretty well, if I do say so myself.







A flashlight used for this should provide a uniform point light source for which angle effects on brightness are minimal. Thus, a McGizmo Mule is the ideal light for this. 






Love the Picasso pictures. I never knew.

These were done with a simple digital point and shoot that has a 15 second exposure setting (set on a window sill), one incan lamp in the shot, and a McGizmo mule set at either medium or high. The 2nd picture contains three approx. 0.5s flashes from the mule.

obi


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## ^Gurthang (May 12, 2011)

As Ezo points out, the technique has been around for some time. I used to do similar tricks w/ film pics using flashlights, sparklers, torches and colored gels, a lot of fun but also a lot of work. Todays digital cameras [for the most part] lack a shutter lock [the old T setting] so you could work for 5 - 30 minutes on a single shot.


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## HKJ (May 12, 2011)

There is some very impressive pieces drawn with flashlights. My avatar pictures is also done this way, but it is not that impressive.


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## MWClint (May 12, 2011)

pretty sweet.
normally when doing these light art drawings, you would still see a blurred image of the body/arm as it moves the light source. His pics do not, which is added coolness. :thinking:

thinking about it..(without trying to photoshop the image..because thats too easy)...
he's starting the light drawings in a pitch black room(ambient lighting off), so you cannot see his body, and then someone else is flicking on/off a light source at desired intervals to capture a quick "still" of his body/arm/background during or at the end of the process.


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## HKJ (May 12, 2011)

MWClint said:


> he's starting the light drawings in a pitch black room(ambient lighting off), so you cannot see his body, and then someone else is flicking on/off a light source at desired intervals to capture a quick "still" of his body/arm/background during or at the end of the process.



An easy and controlled way to do it is with a flash. The easy and controlled part is because you simply does a couple of exposures first to find the best setting of the flash. Then you can do the light drawing and each time you trigger the flash you get a perfectly exposed still frame.


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## Flying Turtle (May 12, 2011)

Here's one I did for an old thread a couple years ago. Can't recall the light I used.






Geoff


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## EZO (May 12, 2011)

HKJ said:


> An easy and controlled way to do it is with a flash. The easy and controlled part is because you simply does a couple of exposures first to find the best setting of the flash. Then you can do the light drawing and each time you trigger the flash you get a perfectly exposed still frame.



HKJ is basically correct here, but in today's world it is easy to lose sight of what Gjon Mili accomplished back in 1949. It was no accident that LIFE Magazine referred to him as "a technical genius and lighting innovator extraordinaire". Back in those days photographers did not have electronic flash. Of course, they did not have digital cameras and many didn't even use light meters. In fact, in the early 1950's some photographers were still even using forms of flash powder or arc lamps to do "flash photography". Harold Edgerton invented the strobe light in 1931 but it remained in scientific laboratory use until many years later. Mili probably used magnesium flash bulbs which were expensive enough not to pop them off for test shots too often. In those days one didn't "do a couple of exposures first to find the best setting for the flash" because if nothing else, when on location you would have to develop the film to see what you were going to get even if he were willing to waste the flash bulbs. Even if he were not shooting in the dark, "syncronized" flash was not a common thing back in those days, so photographers had to time their shutter just right and use slow speeds.

Gjon Mili would have relied on his experience and knowledge to judge how to set his aperture and when to set off the flash. He would have had his camera on a tripod and allowed Picasso the spontaneity to do his "light drawing" in the dark and then set off one or more flashes when he thought it was the right time.

While today, what Mili did might seem interesting, amusing or trivial but in his day he was pushing the limits of what was being done with photography at the time and even today they are remarkable images. I am struck by the fact that Picasso's light drawings have a certain three dimensional quality, especially in the Minotaur drawing; one never seems to see this in other attempts at this technique.

P.S. Kudos to Flying Turtle for his impressive image! It makes me smile. And to HKJ also for his avatar!


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## USRobinson (May 13, 2011)

what do you mean by long enough exposure... is the just placing your standard digital camera on night lights or something?


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## MartinDWhite (May 13, 2011)

These pictures were taken with exposures long enough to do the drawing with the light probably 2-5 minutes. Only the high end digital cameras are capable of this. I have a cannon G9 and the longest expose it has (in hte manual section) is 30 seconds, I think.


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## Mike V (May 13, 2011)

Not really the same as what has been posted on this thread, but there is some cool stuff here in a similar vein:

http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-light-paintings


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## LEDAdd1ct (May 13, 2011)

I can't recall who it was, but someone had a picture of them drawing something in the desert with a flashlight, but they had to leave. I don't remember why they had to leave (a coyote, the police, a skunk) but there were some cool pictures in that thread.


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## EZO (May 13, 2011)

Mike V said:


> Not really the same as what has been posted on this thread, but there is some cool stuff here in a similar vein:
> 
> http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-light-paintings



The images on this link remind me a bit of work done in the late 1970s by an artist named Eric Staller who worked with sparklers, flashlights and other types of lights.


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## Xacto (May 14, 2011)

What a great thread. Now we can even argue that flashlights can create art!
Although I do like the different "Show your XYZ light" threads around here, the pictures in this thread are by far the most impressive ones.

Reminds me of my third year in school when we had a picture in a book of someone forming a "U" with a flashlight. My teacher actually thought the girl in the picture was holding some kind of rope until I explained to here that it is a flashlight and a longer exposure. 

Fast forward some 20 years to the mother of an Ex of mine. We saw long exposure pictures of some busy streets and she actually thought that was some kind of elaborate trick, I had really a hard time convincing here that it is merely a picture that got exposed long enough. Seems that she had a problem virtually connecting the dots (of car head and rear lights) to what they look like when they move... 

Cheers
Thorsten


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## Chevy-SS (May 14, 2011)

Awesome pics!


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## HellaBoredGuy (May 14, 2011)

I want to make my own pictures now


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## chmsam (May 14, 2011)

The technique indeed has been around for a long time and it's pretty simple if you know what you are doing. You also need very little specialized equipment but a tripod or other stable support for the camera is an absolute must. A camera that has a shutter that can be either locked open or allow for very long exposures is probably the easiest to use. Cameras that are too automatic will make these pictures harder to do.

First of all it is vital to plan out and practice what you want to do until you are very comfortable with it. Get used to moving around in the area so that you won't trip over anything in the dark. Practice a lot.

Open the shutter once the camera is placed on the tripod and the room or area is completely dark. Draw the image with your flashlight. If you want to at one or more times during the drawing you can have someone trip a flash from another camera or a handheld strobe. That will let you freeze the action of you doing the drawing. Multiple flashes during the drawing process can make a very cool image. 

Obviously if you use a camera with a shutter that you can lock open, when you are done drawing you just close the shutter. Likewise if you use a timed exposure, before you take the picture you'll need to practice your drawing while timing it with a watch so you can finish it within the time the shutter is going to be open.

If you want to make multiple flash exposures you'll want to set the flash camera or strobe at a lower power setting so you don't wash out the picture. 

Don't worry if the first few attempts aren't perfect. Practice makes perfect.

Seems to me there have been other threads about "painting" with flashlights (using lights to illuminate objects or buildings and pointing the flashlight away from the camera at all times). Since the camera is mounted on a tripod and the person using the flashlight is constantly moving, if done correctly the person with the flashlight will not be seen in the resulting photo. These are really interesting pictures as well.


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## Burgess (May 15, 2011)

This is a great thread !

Brings back a lotta' memories.

Thank you to everyone, for your comments and contributions here.

lovecpf
_


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## SlickSlabMcKnab (May 31, 2011)

MartinDWhite said:


> These pictures were taken with exposures long enough to do the drawing with the light probably 2-5 minutes. Only the high end digital cameras are capable of this. I have a cannon G9 and the longest expose it has (in hte manual section) is 30 seconds, I think.


 

Not entirely true. Even your prosumer cameras, such as a G11 which has only 15 seconds, can accomplish this. Granted, a lot depends on your environment, but it can be done. How long you keep your shutter open is only part of the issue. Gotta consider your apeture settings which help out A LOT with short shutter speeds. Then theres the brightness of the light. Different combinations from these three things can accomplish the same end product, for the most part. I used my G11 in a closed room with no lights, using a min mag, incan., with the head removed (to have a thin line of light) and came out with some good shots. 

The nice thing about some canons is that if it's using the Digic4 processor, there's a good chance it can be hacked and the firmware reflashed to unlock features found in the higher end lines. Higher aperture ranges and timing.


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## Meganoggin (Jun 2, 2011)

Some of the Guy's that come to the UK CPF get togethers usually do some light painting. Have a look at some of the old threads, there are some really cool pictures.


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## yellow (Jun 2, 2011)

15 secs is an enormous time, 
easy to take the light drawings shown above in that time.

the problem is do do the "lines" correctly
(I think quite a number of try and error)


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## EZO (Jun 2, 2011)

Yes, a G11 should be more than capable of doing some photos like these. Also, many point & shoot cameras have a "nighttime" or "fireworks" setting that should allow one to make shots like these as well. Obviously, a camera with a T (Time) or B (Bulb) setting where you can leave the shutter open for as long as you like would be the ideal thing for this kind of work.


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## Helmut.G (Jun 5, 2011)

EZO said:


> Yes, a G11 should be more than capable of doing some photos like these. Also, many point & shoot cameras have a "nighttime" or "fireworks" setting that should allow one to make shots like these as well. Obviously, a camera with a T (Time) or B (Bulb) setting where you can leave the shutter open for as long as you like would be the ideal thing for this kind of work.


 
T, B, or M. don't forget M (manual), even though T is preferable for beginners.


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## EZO (Jun 5, 2011)

Helmut.G said:


> T, B, or M. don't forget M (manual), even though T is preferable for beginners.



Helmut.G is quite right, M (manual) works too but the "M" thing can be a little confusing. M can be a camera setting such as the mode setting M (manual) or a shutter setting such as M. I probably should have been more clear in my post that I was referring to the _shutter_ settings T (Time) & B (Bulb), not camera mode settings. On a shutter M stands for (in German) Momentaufnahme ('snapshot', or 'instantaneous') and was at one time used for flash bulbs to give the shutter time to stay open while the bulb burned. There is an X setting for flash as well and a timer setting - V. However one goes about it, the idea is to have the aperture open long enough to do your flashlight art.


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## EZO (Jun 11, 2011)

I recently came across the work of photographer Roy Skogvold who creates images with the aid of a flashlight. Unlike artists and hobbyists who merely draw with a flashlight in a dark room he brings the concept of "art drawn with a flashlight" to a whole new level of artistic expression. His online portfolio of flashlight art where he explores the depths of emotion and states of mind is really worth perusing as is his more traditional photography. 

Here are some samples:


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