babyhog wrote on 09/21/09 at 17:16:41:Any idea how they do the "light painting"? Very cool shots... good-looking couple too! I love the kiss shot!
Thanks!
They shoot with a very slow shutter speed, we're talking seconds. They basically leave the shutter open for 10-15 seconds, or manually close it. No light is put on the subjects, and little colored flashlights/LEDs are used to trace the subjects. The person tracing can just walk around behind the flashlight, moving rather briskly.
Then once the light-painting is done, they use a flash to illuminate the subject, and then close the shutter. Tripods are a must! And the subjects have to remain as still as they can. For the two-phase shot, they use a flash at each pose, then close the shutter. This may be an oversimplification (I'm not a pro photographer, but my wife says this is basically right. You can google "light painting".)