Light Painting Tools and Equipment
Some very useful information for those interested in light sources and other tools for use in light painting.
These are concepts that are taught and put into practice in my Online Self guided Light Painting Video Course
Harold Ross Fine Art Photography 
Hi Eddie, thank you for your comments and your question. I’m not exactly sure what you mean. It sounds like you are talking about “live view”? If you think you would be watching the light building up onto the subject over time (live), that is not a good way to work. It is better to light paint the object and then judge the capture. Although, watching the light buildup lies (which some cameras can do) sounds like a great solution. It actually is not. I hope this answers your question! And thanks again.
Hi Harold, I’m interested in how you set up your camera and monitor to see the ‘live light’ being applied to the subject, this system would be such a great help to me in my ongoing interest in still life photography.
Regards Eddie
The Baton 3 Pro does fit our adapter! :-)
Baton 3 Pro
Hi Suzanne, it depends on which Baton 3 you have… can you give me the exact model name? The Pro Max is too large, but the other Baton 3 models are less than or equal to .9″, so they would work, but I’d like to confirm it for you. Thanks!
Does your diffuser work with the Olight Baton 3?
Thank you. I am looking for to your presentation next week.
Rod
Sent from my endoscope
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Hello Rod, It doesn’t have to be completely pitch black, but the darker it is, the easier it is to work because your exposures can be a little bit longer, and to achieve a dark room, a person can use window coverings, like black cloth or blackout fabric over your windows if that’s a problem. Thank you!
I enjoyed your Out of Chicago preliminary presentation. The lighting techniques are illustrative. In regards to the setting however are you attempting to optimize for the most dark environment as possible? If so are there specific techniques you used to achieve your goal?
Thank you
Rod
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Hi Susan, you open the camera, do the light painting, then close the camera. On Bulb. The length of time depends on many factors; the aperture, the ISO, the brightness of your flashlight, the size and brightness of your subject(s). You must test-expose and then correct. Shooting tethered (Capture One recommended) is the very best way to judge exposure. For most subjects, try the medium brightness on the flashlight, ISO 50 or 100, F16, 5 seconds. This would be a good base test, and then go from there! Hope this helps!
How long do you leave the bulb setting on to take the image
Hi Rod, Actually, a lower brightness is more practical in light painting. So I’m using roughly 150 lumens, the next to the lowest setting.
With the flashlight are you using level 2 at 400 lumens which likely is even a lower value with your diffuser?
Hi, I am not sure I understand your question. I will send you an email to get a more clear idea of your question. Thank you!
Hello Harold
After complete the training , if I want to do at home, I don’t have all your items, how can I get good picture as I got trained?
Hello Giulio, I corrected the link in the article. We try to keep up, but links are always changing. If the link shows the item as unavailable, please just do another search and you will find it with another seller. But this current link should work for you here. Thank you for the notice. Kind regards, Vera Toglia-Ross
Hello Giulio! I checked, and Amazon still sells the S10RIII. Are you able to order from Amazon where you are? Please email me at:
harold@rossstudio.com Thank you.
It seems that the O Light S10RIlI has been discontinued. Which flashlight would your recommend which would work with your adapters? Thanks, Giulio
Hi Lita, You will need to use an LED panel of at least 12” x 12“, in my opinion. I had one custom made that’s a bit easier to handle, but you can get some basic results using a 12” x 12” panel.
I would recommend they weigh 3-4 lbs or less because they can get a little heavy after awhile. Some out there are aluminum and can be quite heavy.
Also unfortunately, I can’t really make an easy recommendation, as manufacturers are constantly changing their offerings seemingly week to week.
The problem is that you must power the light with a battery pack, and, of course, find an appropriate electrical connection between the two. This is the main problem.
Recently, there have been some terrific Lithium-ion battery packs made available, which make this problem less difficult!
I run mine on a belt worn 12 V battery pack. Bescor makes those.
Just be sure that any light you purchase will connect to any battery that you purchase.
The four pin XLR connector is fairly standard, but there are some exceptions. As long as the connectors match and the voltages match, you should be fine!
Hope that helps!
Hi Harold, Can you please tell me what LED lights you like to use in the field for landscapes? You mention larger ones, such as 10×10 or 12×12. Thanks! Lita
Oh, and by the way… the description of how to use the diffusers (as I explained it above) is actually on the Etsy shop in the description of the diffusers. It just requires scrolling down and reading the description:-)
Doug,
I’m actually working on instructional videos as we speak. The videos that I’m creating are going to be very very detailed, and quite in-depth. Therefore, I’m going to be doing lots of shorter videos the deal with specific subjects, one of those will be exactly what your question was about.
This subject is one of literally hundreds of things that I teach at my workshops. I can’t possibly disseminate all of the information for everyone. This is precisely why I am currently creating videos. :-)
Not sure this is the right spot to reply too, here goes…
I did not realize the you might want to have the light go up instead of down which might explain some of issues.
Might I suggest that there are numerous folks who are new to light paining, especially us old film folks, that you do a video on how to use all 3 devices and which ones work for the right subject, ie backgound, objects and efforts.
I think that you will find more potential customers who are just starting out plus adding on to that discussion point would be videos showing very basic objects to start with.
Thank you for your reply,
Doug
Hi Doug, that’s a great question. Actually, the reason that there are two different angles on the diffusers is fairly non-intuitive… Depending on which diffuser you have on the flashlight, when using the diffuser to shield the light from the camera, the actual physical flashlight is either pointing up or pointing down. Most of the time, you would want the flashlight pointing up (toward the ceiling) for a couple of reasons. One, it gives you a great handle to lower the light into the set when lighting some of the lower objects . In a still life set, it’s very advantageous to be able to lower the light without getting your hand in and around the subjects. Which brings me to the other reason… By switching from one diffuser to the other, you can control where the “handle“ is in thereby keeping your hand out of the set where it is in danger of bumping the objects. As a right-hander, I almost always light from the right side, but I am constantly switching diffusers back-and-forth to keep my hand out of the “danger zone“ of bumping objects. I hope this makes sense. Harold
Evening Harold,
I have your 3 tools and while i am still “crawling” I do have a question about the difference in the short 90’s why are they and what does one want to accomplishing with either short of standing on once side or the other of the object in the desired image. Might be lame brained question but for the life of me that is the only reason I can think of.
Best regards,
Doug Askew
Hi again Anne… if you scroll down this page: https://haroldrossfineart.wordpress.com/light-painting-tools-and-resources/
You’ll see, just under the photo of the wand, a video which should make things crystal clear.
Best, Harold
Hi Anne, I’m sorry, but I answered this a few days ago, and yet I see here that the answer wasn’t posted:-( My apologies.
The wand itself is just an attachment that fits the flashlight adapter, just like the diffusers. So, in the system, the only battery that needs attention is the one in the flashlight! And, if you buy the SR2 or 3, those are both rechargeable. I hope this is clear:-)
If not, let me know! Best, Harold
How does the light wand recharge? New to light painting and totally inspired by your work.
Hi Doug! If you scroll up in the article, you will see the link to the Etsy shop where the diffusers and also the wand pictures are shown. The Etsy logo is also along the right hand side of the blog page itself, and if you click on that, it will also take you to the shop. Thanks so much!
I want very much to learn the skills you have demonstrated on your page. How can I order you attachments the light wand & light painting tools. I will check for the light as well mindful to get the older version if still available. Great page & I got your site info from a video featuring Melanie Kern-Favilla via Kelby One.
Hello Gloria!
Nice to hear from Italy! Thank you for appreciating my work.
Gloria, I would not recommend the rechargeable flashlight for the following reason: when the battery dies and it’s time to recharge, the flashlight will be “out of commission” until you recharge the battery. What this means is that if you are in the middle of light painting a still life, you will have to stop until the battery is recharged again. This is because the battery can only be re-charged while it is inside of the flashlight body.
I would instead recommend that you get a standard flashlight and rechargeable batteries so that you can have more than one battery and they can be recharged outside of the flashlight body. This means that you can continue shooting even if a battery goes dead.
There is another minor issue with that particular flashlight. The inside of the bezel is a blue aluminum color. If you purchase that particular model (in the non-– rechargeable option which I recommend) I would recommend that you cover the blue ring with a magic marker or some black or white paint.
I hope this helps, and happy light painting!
Best, Harold
Hi Harold,
I’m Gloria from Italy. I’m using light painting to shoot mostly food still life tabletops. I’m still looking for a good flashlight which remains consistent in the output even when the battery life decreases. I Was wondering if the Olight S10r which is rechargeable is good as the M10, in terms of light quality and color? I would rather by a rechargeable one which is more flexible. Have you ever used it? Can you help me?
Oh! Btw, I like your work very much!
Thanks
Gloria
[…] I was so inspired by Harold’s work and the work of his students that I purchased one of the flashlights Harold recommended in a recent blog post, in addition to the diffuser kit that Harold makes and […]
Light Painting – An Inspiration | Robyn Graham Photography said this on March 15, 2014 at 3:27 pm
Hi Les! I’ve known of your work since the early 70’s! I’m so delighted to get a comment from you:-)
The Tripp Lite USB extension repeater cable is simply to get you a longer cable between camera and computer when shooting tethered… less cumbersome and less of a trip hazard.
Hello,
Don’t really understand the function of the Trip Lite USB extension repeater cable. Can you explain? Am most impressed with your pictures, and would like to attempt the technique myself.
Thanks.
Les
Phyllis, It was my pleasure, and I thoroughly enjoyed the group! I hope you play with light painting and enjoy it as much as I do!
Thoroughly enjoyed your presentation to the Coastal Camera Club last night. Can’t wait to experiment myself.