What do I need to start creating long exposures or light painting?

The most important thing to start creating long exposures or light painting is a camera that either has a manual mode or a bulb mode. These functions will allow you to set how long the camera shutter can stay open. A camera with bulb mode will offer your the most creative flexibility.

A tripod is also an essential piece of equipment that helps stabilize the camera for long exposures. Light sources such as LED lights, flashlights, strobe lights, or just any light source that can be moved around are also a must-have, especially for light painting as this will serve as your main creative tool.

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More Courses

  • What is light painting?

    What is light painting?

    Light Painting (sometimes known as Light Graffiti) is a technique where you can alter the photo by creating movements of light within the image.

  • What are the best tips for light painting?

    With Light Painting there are no strict rules on the outcome, but here are some valuable tips to help you get the best shot.

  • How to do a long exposure with an instant camera?

    To do a long exposure with an instant camera, make sure your camera has a bulb or a long exposure mode as one of its settings. Lomography’s instant camera range whether it’s Lomo’Instant Square or the Diana Instant Square, have previously mentioned features that will allow you to experiment with long exposure and light painting

  • Which settings should I use on my camera for light painting?

    For light painting make sure to be on manual or bulb mode when shooting. Depending on what you want to do with your light painting you can set the shutter from 30 seconds to a few minutes in order to create your photograph.

  • How long should I expose the frame for a long exposure photo?

    To start creating a long exposure you should set the shutter to stay open for at least 2 seconds. From here you can start to experiment and figure out what shutter speed works for the effect you want to create.

  • Which Lomography cameras can be used for long exposures or light painting?

    Which Lomography cameras can be used for long exposures or light painting?

    Most of the Lomography cameras come with a bulb function which allows the shutter to stay open for as long as the user is holding the shutter release button. Other Lomography cameras also have the option of using a shutter release cable.

  • What film should I use for light painting?

    Any film can be used for light painting but film stocks with an ISO 400 or 800 are commonly used since it does well in low light situations. It is mostly your camera and the settings that will determine the success of your light painting photo. Film stocks with an ISO of 400 or 800 are commonly used since they do well in low-light situations.