A Fun Light Painting Project – Parabolas

Here’s a fun tip that was recently shared in our photography forums by brand new member ‘ryan the mort‘. I thought it might make a fun weekend project – enjoy.

I’m not sure if this has been shared before, but it’s fun and fairly simple. It requires no post-processing.

Materials needed:

1. small flashlight
2. string
3. a ceiling hook

Procedure:

1. First hang the flashlight, pointing downwards, from the ceiling using the string. The length of string changes the type of picture you will get, so have fun and experiment.
2. Next place your camera below the flashlight facing the ceiling.Make sure your flashlight is securely fastened, it would be a horrible thing if it fell and smashed your lens.
3. Set your camera on the bulb setting. Use a small aperture.
4. Then turn off all the lights in the room, throw the flashlight so it begins to spin in circles and then trigger your bulb setting. Throwing the flashlight in different directions and angles also produces unique results.
5. xperiment with different shutter speeds… some of mine were up to 3 or 4 minutes long.
6. Another option to create even more designs is to slide a piece of cardboard over your lens, catch the flashlight, re-throw it, and then pull the cardboard off, continuing with a single photo.

I used a wide angle lens so I could get bigger circles, but any lens should work.