light painting

On New Year’s Eve we spent a {very} little bit of time outside doing some light painting. It was so fun but it was also freeeezing outside and everyone wanted to be inside under a cozy blanket, watching a movie.

To get set up, I used my Nikon SLR, a tripod, and a flashlight. Find a dark room or, like us, an outside spot that’s dark.

I set my camera’s ISO to 200 and turned off the autofocus. The shutter speed was super slow, which gives the subject plenty of time to draw with the flashlight while the camera captures it. To capture the word ‘love’ I covered the flashlight between letters to keep it more crisp.

So fun, right?! Don’t you want to try it??

18 comments

  1. Awesome!! I would love to hear more tips on photography. My husband gave me a Nikon camera for my birthday and I just can’t seem to get out of Auto mode. Did you learn on your own, other websites??

    1. I’ll definitely keep the photography blog posts coming! I learned from friends, the handbook, and just fiddling around with the settings. The more you take pictures on ‘manual’ settings, the more comfortable you will be to change up the settings. xo

  2. I’ve always thought this was so cool. Thanks for the tips on how to do this! I need to break out my “big girl” camera and give it a go! : ) Happy New Year to you and your sweet fam!

  3. can you give me more specifics on the shutter speed? love this and all of your photos everywhere on this blog are lovely.

    1. Of course Valerie! Every camera is different, but for mine I switch my settings to ‘manual’ and then adjust the shutter speed to any of the options. The more time the better because you can write more in the air. 🙂 xo

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