Light Painting Smoke Effects Tutorial

There’s no end to the fun and creativity you can pour into a great light painting session. And the more techniques you have in your photographer’s utility belt the more interesting and professional your light painting can become.

In recent weeks we’ve shown you how to add 3D objects to your light painting, how to create light-painting rain, and how combining bullet time photography and light painting can yield some pretty awesome results. Now it’s time to put the old saying to rest and create smoke — without a fire.

In the tutorial above, photographer Wen-Jié Yang shows you how to create light-painting smoke using nothing more than flexible neon tubing. In addition he doesn’t leave you hanging on the rest of the shoot. He shows you how he created the whole thing, from the stenciled snow flakes, to the 6 armed model and the yellow halo behind her to, of course, the cool smoke.

By our count, the full exposure lasts almost a full minute and 30 seconds, and the results would make for one heck of a Facebook cover.

(via Lifehacker)