First Go at Light Painting a Car

[xrrr]

Inspired by AndWhyNot and Dean I had a go a light painting a car for the first time last night.

1.

Elinchrom 60cm Portalite softbox, black gaffer tape and a LED Maglite. About 5 different exposures to get the car lit evenly in different places. The smoke effect is light spillage from the softbox that I kept in as I liked it.

2.

LED Maglite without the reflector thing on the end. 2 exposures one for the body and one for the wheels. If I did this again I think I would make it brighter and get a bit more light along the roofline.

3.

Single long exposure with LED Maglite without the reflector thing on the end.

4.

Again, a single long exposure with LED Maglite without the reflector thing on the end.




My biggest struggle was keeping the light looking even. The softbox worked well but it would only work with a single pass of the light, multiple passes over the same spot gave very uneven light. The torch with the reflector on gave a really horrible neon look. The torch without the reflector gives a really nice look but the highlight of the bulb can look distracting on multiple exposures. A mixture of the softbox softness and the bare torch eveness would be what I am after I think!

Any comments or suggestions on what I should do differently next time are welcome!

[muppetdave]

I'm no expert in this field, but they look pretty good to me, I think they all work well, in particular the single line on the door handle shot.

[paul911]

Love the first one, and it certainly does have a feel of AWN / Dean style.

[HoHoHo]

I think they are all very good.

Not sure about number 2 though.

[MartinP]

I think the roof outline on number 2 is too dark, but the others are beautiful. Well done!

[xrrr]

I am not happy with #2 either, too dark and not enough definition. But thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I feel a re-shoot coming on...!