LIGHT GRAFFITI part 1

Awesome, aren't they? That is what we call LIGHT GRAFFITI. It's one of the favourite techniques by photographers, and everyone has to try at least once doing it because it is too awesome to be missed! Other name for light graffiti is light drawing, light art, or light writing. Basically, light graffiti is about creating/drawing an object/writings on the air, to produce something that is not there but makes it appear as if the object is there, by using lights (you can also do it in Adobe Photoshop but of course, that's not the case here!). How to make light graffiti? Read on.

THINGS YOU NEED:

1) Lights. Any kind of lights will do. Torchlight, camera phone back lights, camera phone flash light, LED, firecracker, you name it. You can use different colour of lights too.

2) A camera with manual setting - preferably DSLR. A high-end compact camera would do, but of course, what you can do is pretty limited.

3) A tripod. To create a beautiful output, the camera needs to stand still. No sign of Parkinson pls. :P

LET'S DO IT:

1) Go somewhere dark or a place where the lighting is poor. The darker the better, as it will create a sharper and more detailed light graffiti.

2) Put your camera on the tripod and adjust it well on a flat surface to make sure that it will not move. 

3) Set the ISO level down to 200 or 100 or lower, if possible. This is to reduce noise in the picture.

4) Set the aperture to a very small value. F18 and above is good enough. Make sure the flash is off.

5) Press the shutter button, and start moving the lights in front of the camera. If you want yourself to be in the picture, you can't move the whole time while drawing the lights on the air.

6) Now wait for the picture to be processed, and you're done! :)

As usual, practice makes perfect. You can experiment with different settings and different lightings to see the outcome. This can make you understand more of the requirement needed for certain drawings that you want to do, and produce a better picture next time. Don't be lazy! Nobody excels with only one try. Maybe you can produce a short stop motion clip like this too? ;)

::: To understand more about light graffiti, click A Guide to Light Graffiti by Illum.

::: See the passionate locals doing light graffiti: HIKARIMOJI LIGHTS GRAFFITI

Pictures displayed are credited to Abduzeedo and Toxel.