How to Create Light-Painting Masterpieces: A New Way to Play with Night Photography

Thomas Chu Photo

Light painting uses a camera's long exposure to record the moving trail of a light source — drawing patterns in the dark with light as your brush. It's an increasingly popular creative night-photography technique.

A while ago, Thomas teamed up for the first time with top Chinese light-painting artist RoyWang in Zhangye's Alien Valley to shoot a crossover series for the Changan Oshan X5 — combining landscape, starry sky, car and light painting with sparkling results.

Light painting adds a fresh element to outdoor astro and landscape work, and the results are stunning. In today's tutorial, Thomas shares light-painting tips and tricks.

Video Tutorial

▶ Watch the video tutorial on Bilibili

Videographers: Lin Qitao, Yang Ke

Tutorial produced by Chu Weimin

Light-painting consultant: RoyWang

Written Tutorial

Light painting doesn't require complex gear — any camera or phone with long-exposure capability works.

Since you're shooting long exposures at night, a sturdy tripod and head are essential.

Light painting often needs Bulb mode, so a shutter release cable is handy. Many cameras can now be controlled via a phone app, which replaces the cable.

When painting with light, wear black or dark clothing so your clothes don't reflect stray light or show up too bright.

Because light sources are often quite bright, ISO 100-200 at f/5.6-f/18 is a common exposure combo to keep the light trails from blowing out. Set the shutter to Bulb: start before the painting begins and stop right after it ends.

Without Bulb mode, a 5-10 second exposure that covers the drawing process usually works.

Note these settings only record the light pattern itself. If the final photo should also show a city nightscape, starry sky or surrounding scenery, meter and shoot those separately and blend them in post.

Light sources for drawing come in endless variety. The simplest — a flashlight or a phone — are point sources, good for writing words and drawing circles.

To write several separate characters, turn the light off after each one, move to where the next character begins, and switch it back on.

For wider shapes like the wave below, use a longer light stick or light-painting tube.

Fireworks are another classic tool — writing or drawing with sparklers produces glittering, colorful lines.

Even more popular is steel wool. We pack a ball of steel wool into a whisk, tie the whisk with wire for spinning (ordinary rope burns through), light it and spin hard.

Horizontal or vertical, the shower of sparks is hugely dramatic.

Near the ground or walls, you can even capture sparks bouncing off surfaces.

Steel wool burns at very high temperatures — avoid burns, and make sure there are no flammable or hazardous materials nearby.

Beyond these basic tools, programmable professional light sticks now let you preload images or text, making complex patterns possible.

Car lights and drone lights can also paint creative patterns.

This time we mounted extra lights on the car itself, using it to draw patterns and curves that need to be very smooth.

Finally, let's enjoy some more light-painting works from this shoot.

Concept & planning: Guangzhou Xinxingshe

Travel production leads: Sammy, Simon

Lead photographer: Thomas Chu Photo

Light-painting creation: Roywang (Wang Luoyi)

Collaborator: Yan Miaojin

Videographers: Lin Qitao, Yang Ke

Car photography & retouching: Guangzhou Xinxingshe

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