Use Camera Tricks to Paint Light in the Sky

If you’ve ever seen a shot in which car lights seem to leave an ethereal trail behind them, or sparklers spell out a message in midair before the holder, you’ve seen a light painting. Light painting involves leaving a camera’s shutter wide open and overexposing it to moving objects that emit light, creating a continuous capture until the shutter closes. This can be done on any kind of camera that has an adjustable exposure time (props to those of you still sporting analog equipment). And even if you don’t have access to any of these cameras, not all hope is lost — there’s an app for it!

Thinking of some bright ideas for cool pictures yet? Read on to get illuminated to the methods of DIY light painting.

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)