Believe it or not, this image by Wen-Jié Yang is completely created in-camera. Instead of Photoshop, Yang used light painting. It’s a cool demonstration of this technique, even though it’s only shot in his living room.

Light painting is a type of photography where you shoot with a very long exposure (at least 30 seconds long) in a very dim environment and selectively light up different parts of the scene by using a variety of light sources such as a flashlight or an LED light. Although this technique is nothing new, what makes Yang’s photo stand out is the cohesive and creative way he used light painting.

Here is what Yang used for the shot:

1. A flashlight to light up the girl and the box
2. A colored lightsaber made from a torchlight and a couple of colored tubes for the light circle
3. A Neon-Flexible or an EL-wire for the smoke
4. A speedlight with a stenciled softbox for the snowflakes.

To learn how he shot this image, check out the following video.

(Note: The video is in French, but there are English subtitles. Also, there is one use of profanity near the beginning)

If you want to learn more about stencil light-painting, you can check out our article here.

Here is another video by Yang on the basics of light-painting.

(Note: If you don’t see the subtitle, click on the CC icon at the bottom of the Youtube video frame)

Thanks to DIY Photography for the link.

Related posts:

1. DIY Light Painting Tutorial | by Wen-Jié Yang
2. Painting With Light by Eric Curry
3. A Very Different Kind of Light Painting Photography
4. 5 Examples of Creative Light Painting – Opening Your Mind
5. How to Make Amazing Light Stencils Photography