Bulb vs Manual for tube light-painting

This tutorial applies mostly to tube light-painting when working outdoors with a model and the surrounding background. 

• For abstract light-painting with no living subject, you can easily push the exposure time to 30 seconds. 

• If you’re not shooting with the available background (if you’re going for a pitch black background), go on bulb mode and shoot at f5.6, iso200

• The limit of 13 seconds is what we figured out over the years as the “safe” limit to get a crisp subject (to avoid blur or ghosty effects). 

Please notice that this specific technique exists to avoid having to do any composites later on in post-production. 

B (Bulb) - 1 to 3 seconds - Light is always on

• The duration of the light-painting is always the same as the exposure time (shutter speed)

• You have to hold the shutter for the whole duration of the exposure

• Ideal for the blue hour, when using sparklers or in cities

• Typical settings are f5.6, iso200, 800 lumens

M (Manual) - 4 to 13 seconds - Light is on only for the light-painting

• The duration of the light-painting is still only 1 to 3 seconds

• Turn on the flashlight only to do the light-painting shape, then turn it off to grab more ambient light (all within the same exposure)

• Ideal for late-night shootings with the stars and the milky-way, or to do stop-motions

• Typical settings are f2.8, iso3200, 100 lumens

[B] 2sec, f4, 14mm, iso200 Milky Orange tube, 600 lumens

[B] 2s, f2.8, 14mm, iso1600 Milky Orange tube, 300 lumens

[M] 8s (2s light-painting), f1.8, 14mm, iso3200 Milky Orange tube, 150 lumens

[M] 8s (1.5s light-painting) f1.4, 85mm, iso3200 Milky White tube 200 lumens

[M] 6s (2s light-painting) f1.4, 85mm, iso3200 Milky White tube 150 lumens

[B] 3.8s, f1.8, 14mm, iso2500 Milky Orange tube, 150 lumens