GLOW STICK
It's a meter long Glow stick from New Zealand (Home of Poi), with LED's on each end - which can make different patterns, or strobe or gentle flow of colors.
Longtime Exposure
So, you set a camera on a tripod, and keep the shutter open (Bulb, longtime exposure), while drawing what ever your heart desires, into the air, throw it, circle around you, draw... anything. Each time you see in the camera display what works, and what doesn't. In this photo (above), it was the last day of May 2010, and in Stockholm it did not get dark enough... You need to find a balance between background light - and the length of your exposure (as it gets lighter the longer the exposure proceeds).
HOVERING GLOWING ORB
This is easier. I mean you need only a torch. Preferably one with a tiny sharp light source. Like the older Mag-Lite where you can detach the cap, exposing a the light bulb. This is good because you gonna move it and should not be obscured by anything around.
Have a long cord attached to the torch but not too long (without it touching the ground)
Then you place something on the ground, a marker (stone, etc). While the camera on a tripod starts to expose (60-90 sec), you swirl the torch in a circle - and continue to do so continuously - but you move ever so slightly around that marker on the ground. Around it's axis, so to speak. After a minute you have completed a full circle - and you can shut off the camera. Then you get this "glowing orb" seemingly hovering in the air.
Dependent on the strength of the light bulb, you do not really need super bright lenses to collect the light. The Light orb can also be made with some slight background light left (city light, dusk, dawn)
It will take a while to get the orb straight aligned - it takes practice.
But believe me - it is really, really fun The results are so rewarding to see in your camera screen - that each attempt will inspire you further to try again. Wanting to make nice orbs in all kinds of night landscapes and places. There is a lot of playfulness attached to this kind of experimental photography !!
It is also fun to be two, to play
FIRE (EL-WIRE)
I believe it is called El-Wire (readily available on eBay). It is a sort of fluorescent thin string light, 2 or 3 meter - powered by 2 AA batteries. Comes in several different colors. The light isn't very bright - so here I suggest really dark landscapes, as well a brighter lens. In my case I used a wideangle 24mm f 1.4 L II lens - with wide open aperture ƒ1.4 with an exposure of 40 seconds at ISO 400
There at 1700 meter hight in front of the Teide Volcano on the Island of Tenerife, I wanted to give the impression of "fire" or "lava". (It was icy cold, later with storm winds)
ISO Sensitivity
Oh, by the way, I often use low-ish ISO 400, not noisy high ISO stuff, when I make light paintings. It means, you set the ISO yourself, instead of letting the camera choose for you (which would immediately choose the highest, noisiest ISO in darkness) Which looks not as nice, really. You need some latitude in the RAW file in post-processing - because of sometimes too high contrast between light and dark shadows. An image with lower ISO has usually more latitude in the shadows, than a high ISO photo.
I also set lens aperture, exposure time, and focus - all manually.
Then you just... draw away
This El-Wire, you can toss around, paint into the air, pull around on the floor... anything... Only your imagination and fantasy sets the limit.
Note:
If you move the cable around a lot, you may want to tape the part, between battery box and glowing el wire cable, to prevent it from breaking off.
After some use you will see that the glowing wire will "chip away" on in the inside of the cable (looking "broken" in the light). That is normal wear and tear over time, as it will degrade. But they aren't expensive either...
Those last two photos (above)
where made in a TOTALLY DARK ROOM - because we installed a photo darkroom there (later). In the mean time we used the space for experimental photography for
really long exposures (sometimes up to 4 minutes - see below 2 photos) painted with lights on the walls, etc.
It was super exciting !!
The thing is that you never exactly know what it is you get - which makes it so fascinating to experiment with. With today's digital cameras, you get to see the results - and don't have to wait to develop the film and make prints. Post-processing can further give you leeway to steer up the colors (Strong colors can sometimes be a bit difficult to "curb")
Lightpainting: anything that glows or shines
can be used as a light source when you make light paintings. I once started with the sparks coming out of a cigarette lighter 35 years ago. Any torch, anything that radiates light... Paint your muse, your partner, your love. Make funny animals which look as if they "cross the street", Small pin-formed light sources are good as drawing-pens in photos.
I wish you lots of inspiration, fun, and a playful spirit with excitement
Ralf