Sunday, March 21, 2010

Light Drawing

This morning I found this blog, Creating Daily, and saw a post, which reminded me of some light drawings I did awhile ago.  My brother-in-law showed me some photographs of Picasso doing light drawings, and I had to give it a whirl myself.  I had so much fun, I kept going until my camera battery ran out.

All you do is put your camera on a tripod in a dark or dimly lit room and take a long exposure (10 seconds or more) and quickly draw with a flashlight pointed at the camera.  It's really fun, but it can get tricky because you can't see what you're doing until your drawing is done.  Then you get the surprise on your camera.  I would imagine this would be exciting for kids too, but I haven't yet tried it with Jack and Tess.


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37 comments:

  1. Tagan EngelMarch 21, 2010 at 8:33 PM

    wow, this takes some serious talent. really beautiful and creative! thank you for your inspiring blog! I'm reworking my blog layout and keep coming back to yours because of it's elegant simplicity.

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  2. sharpiegirlMarch 21, 2010 at 8:48 PM

    I love it!!!

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  3. StephanieMarch 21, 2010 at 9:04 PM

    my favorite is the bicycle!!! what kind of camera did you shoot with?

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  4. Three OwlsMarch 21, 2010 at 9:20 PM

    What a cool thing to do. I am going to go and check out the link.

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  5. Joel HenriquesMarch 21, 2010 at 10:34 PM

    Thanks!

    Stephanie, I use a Nikon D70. For this I used the remote to trigger the shutter. You can also set the Nikon to "bulb" mode which opens the shutter until you press the button again to close it. Very handy.

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  6. AmberMarch 21, 2010 at 11:57 PM

    Ah I love this! I must get my remote fixed and try it. Thanks for the link to picasso's artwork, beautiful!

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  7. JillianMarch 22, 2010 at 12:34 AM

    Ooooh! We'll try this with our littlies and see what we come up with! Thanks for the inspiration! :)

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  8. AngeMarch 22, 2010 at 1:38 AM

    I have a D90 which I have no idea how to use. Guess I'm going to have great fun finding out!!

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  9. SuzetteMarch 22, 2010 at 2:33 AM

    Nice, I love the bike! I just did sort of the same thing with my three-year old. I drew some animals and he danced with two lights (red and white) and was totally amazed by the results! I also let him operate the camera (with a remote) and he came up with all these different things I had to draw (like a meat-eating dinosaur mom...). We had so much fun!

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  10. AnonymousMarch 22, 2010 at 2:43 AM

    Brilliant! I love the bird and the bycicle! This looks like so much fun... : )

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  11. Riikka KovasinMarch 22, 2010 at 3:43 AM

    They are so beautiful!

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  12. AnonymousMarch 22, 2010 at 6:42 AM

    I love your blog. its so creative and funny. Your works are so beatiful. Sorry about my English. it isn't my native laguage.
    Sukran Bahadir.

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  13. UnknownMarch 22, 2010 at 6:43 AM

    the bird is magical. thanks for sharing!

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  14. ChristinaMarch 22, 2010 at 7:02 AM

    amazing
    wonderfully done

    learned something new again.
    Thank you

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  15. AnonymousMarch 22, 2010 at 8:29 AM

    I'm totally stealing this idea for a holiday card this year. Thanks again for more inspiration.

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  16. DoloresMarch 22, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    this is awsome!!!!! thanks!

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  17. mountain girlMarch 22, 2010 at 7:12 PM

    You are absolutely incredible! I just browsed through your blog for the first time and I'm blown away. You've given me a million ideas of things to make for/with my 2 year old. Thanks!

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  18. AG AmbroultMarch 23, 2010 at 6:08 AM

    out of this world. My kids are going to flip for this. thanks :)

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  19. LisaMarch 23, 2010 at 6:20 AM

    Great idea!! I've been trying this morning with the light of a cell-phone and had a lot of fun.

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  20. ieva jansoneMarch 23, 2010 at 10:37 AM

    hallo joel! i just discovered your blog, and i'm smitten by your creativity and the fantastic things you make, as well as the photos! (the dolls house is just genious:))
    your kids must be happy to have a father like you!

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  21. maijanmajaMarch 24, 2010 at 12:34 PM

    Hi! I heard about your blog from my friend and I'm impressed! So many wonderful things to do with the kids. What an idea to make that kind of a yo-yo ball! My youngest kids are also so frustrated with the real ones. So, I put that to my to-do list. I also like the fishing poles very much.
    You're very creative! Thanks for shearing those things!

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  22. Louise @ Illume DesignMarch 24, 2010 at 3:35 PM

    These look great.. the bike is awesome...!!!

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  23. a.b.cMarch 24, 2010 at 5:33 PM

    I loved the idea and had so much fun doing it!
    http://jaredandamelia.blogspot.com/2010/03/light-drawings.html

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  24. Loulou's mumMarch 25, 2010 at 11:23 PM

    Hi, I just discovered your blog and am amazed by your creativity. It is such an inspiration. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  25. AnonymousMarch 26, 2010 at 1:19 PM

    We did something similar with those glow in the dark bracelets you have to bend to make light up. The colors were vivid and just perfect. The kids all danced around in the dark to fun music and took turns pushing the remote. Some photos were done similar to yours with trying to get a shape drawn, but most were just color expressions. Great fun!

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  26. Novi On The GoMarch 27, 2010 at 7:53 PM

    The light drawings are wonderful! I'll have to give it a try, thanks for the tips. I found your blog through Fine Little Day and think your projects are fantastic!

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  27. She Can't DecideMarch 28, 2010 at 3:50 PM

    wow...fabulous! you really mastered this!!

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  28. BreeApril 1, 2010 at 10:07 AM

    I did this with my kids a while back and they LOVED it! We also used those glow in the dark swords, necklaces, and bracelets. They almost knocked the tripod over a few times because they were so excited to see the pictures they made.
    Great Post.

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  29. Anna AirportApril 2, 2010 at 8:38 AM

    How neat! I can't wait for the sun to go down! :)

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  30. christineApril 16, 2010 at 1:07 PM

    http://scripts.mit.edu/~eric_r/glowdoodle/ !!!

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  31. tcApril 23, 2010 at 9:44 AM

    i love this. Would really love to have a go with my twins soon. Thanks for sharing :-)

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  32. AnonymousMay 6, 2010 at 3:03 AM

    OMG, Really Beautiful!! I love this! I'll give it a try!

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  33. NicholeJune 9, 2010 at 11:48 AM

    Those are so awesome!

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  34. Clara DaisyOctober 4, 2010 at 11:41 AM

    Wow!! These are better than Picassos!! You have painted a Matisse with that vase picture! Well done!!

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  35. 2108February 8, 2011 at 11:22 AM

    Waooooww, ca fait de l'effet, j'adore!

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  36. LeeMarch 24, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    You are truly inspirational. I have almost read all of your posts and can't stop saying WOW!!! Your kids are so lucky to have such a creative father :)

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  37. UnknownApril 20, 2011 at 11:06 PM

    Wow! those are neat. I actually came to see what kind of crafts are going to be in your new book to see if I'd like to review it on my blog - but this is really neat!

    Wow! Tina "The Book Lady"
    http://familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com

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