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For anyone familiar with photography, you’ve probably already tried light painting. Light painting adds a creative and photographer-specific edge to images by moving a light source in the frame.

The light source can be anything from a headlamp, to flashlights, LED’s, sparklers, glow bracelets, or other neon lights. Moving the light source essentially “paints” a picture when shone directly into the lens of a camera!

Light painting requires a long exposure time to capture the light from the light source. Having a tripod is handy to keep the camera steady and eliminate any shake. To start light painting, just follow these steps:

1. Set up your camera on a tripod and set the exposure to 10 seconds or longer. You can play around with the shutter speed depending on how you want the final image to look.

2. Set the self-timer on the camera (if you don’t have someone else to press the shutter release button).

3. Choose your light source and stand in front of the camera.

4. Using the light source, paint away!

And if you google ‘Light Painting’ in images, you’ll find a ton of gorgeous shots that others have created!