Banner image by David Cox. Photos in the article by Stephen Orlando, Robert Nowland, Erin Flanagan, Kathryn Delany, and Anke Weber. Please see image credits.
Inspired by Canadian photographer Stephen Orlando, whose luminous images trace the glowing paths of rowers’ oars across dark water, this guide shows you how to create your own light-motion photographs using simple tools, a sense of play, and an evening outdoors.
Stephen gave a fascinating presentation to the VCC Creative Special Interest Group (SIG) this past September, sparking many of us to try this captivating technique.
Photo by Stephen Orlando, motion exposure.com
The Magic of Painting with Light
Have you ever looked at a photograph and felt time streaking through it, like a dancer leaving a ribbon of colour behind each movement, or a musician tracing invisible notes in mid-air?
Light-motion photography tells a story of movement using only light. It’s part photography, part performance, part abstract art, and it doesn’t require a studio, special effects, or a photo editor. You can start simple and build on your light painting with new layers and experiences.
“Light painting is choreography with photons.”
— Kathryn Delany
Photo by Kathryn Delany
Think Like a Painter
Planning gives purpose. Even simple arcs or spirals become magical when they’re intentional. Instead of asking what to photograph, ask what kind of movement you envision for your images. Do you imagine flowing, graceful gestures? Or do you seek precise, geometric sweeps like the calligraphy of an athlete or musician? Below are a few ideas to help transform your vision into reality.
Sketch a few lines on paper.
The sketch becomes your movement map.
Think about patterns
Circular halos or domes: spin your lights in one place
Arcs or tunnels: walk while spinning and waving
Abstracts: shake the light or change directions mid-spin
Practice the motions before you start shooting.
Slow down or speed up your movements.
Use gestures that are slow and continuous or short and vibrant.
Photo by Anke Weber, Spinning in Place
Photo by Anke Weber, Sweeping Gestures
Reflections on water or wet surfaces
can make the effect even more dramatic.
Photo by Erin Flanagan, Steel Wool Photography
Getting Started With Light Motion Photography
If you’d like to start quickly, here is a brief summary of the process. Set up your camera for long exposure on a sturdy support, focus manually, gather electric lights such as LED chains, step into the darkness, and start painting by moving and waving your lights in front of your camera. Experiment and adjust to generate luminous, glowing patterns.
What You’ll Need
The first step is to gather your supplies. You’ll likely have most of these items already, and you’ll probably discover more possibilities when you start collecting. Keep it simple and inexpensive; creativity matters more than gear.
- Camera or smartphone: manual settings for shutter speed, ISO, and aperture
- Smartphone apps: Slow Shutter Cam (iPhone) or ProCam X (Android); both mimic manual camera controls
- Tripod or stable surface
- Darkness: from twilight to night
- LED lights: headlamps, glow sticks, fairy lights, flashlights with coloured gels
- Steel wool: with lighter fluid and safety protection
- Optional: reflective clothing and light-up accessories
- A performer: a friend or just you with a cable release and/or self timer
Photo by Robert Nowland, LED Lights
Set Up Your Camera for Long Exposure
Compose and focus while there’s still enough light to see. In the dark, a flashlight can illuminate a structure at the distance where you’ll be moving so you can focus accurately. Light-motion photography relies on long exposure to capture glowing trails of movement. In complete darkness, your patterns will become the focus of the photograph, while in low light you can capture an ambient background.
Beyond the long-exposure settings for shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, the exposure for your lights depends on their brightness and on the speed of your movements. The background exposure, in turn, is influenced by sky brightness and by how much detail you want to reveal. Objects and figures may appear as silhouettes or with more defined features, such as clothing colours or even facial detail. You can also use rear-curtain flash and multi-exposures to explore these ideas further.
Setting
Recommendation
Mode
manual or shutter priority
Shutter Speed
5-30 seconds
ISO
100–400 (low to reduce noise)
Aperture
f/8–f/16 (for crisp trails)
Focus
manual, pre-focused before shooting
Now for the Fun: Become the Brush
Think of Stephen Orlando’s rowers and musicians — tracing the rhythm of motion itself.
It’s time to perform!
- Set up your camera on a sturdy surface, dial in your long-exposure settings, and lock focus manually
- Use a remote release or timer, get into position, and trigger the shutter
- Paint in mid-air: walk, spin, wave, or gesture with your lights
- Adjust your movement speed:
- Slower = brighter, thicker trails
- Faster = finer, lighter strokes
Review, Adjust and Paint Again
When you review your images, look for a balance between mystery and structure. Small tweaks, for example adjusting the shutter time, the LED colour, or the speed of your motion, can make a big difference. Here are some questions to ask when reviewing your images:
- Does the movement express energy or emotion?
- Are there interesting intersections or rhythms in the trails?
- Does the light stand out against the darkness?
More Ideas to Inspire You
Try different light positions on your hands, arms, bike wheels, or paddles. Walk, cycle, dance, or toss a glowing frisbee. Tape lights to sleeves or hold one in each hand to create angel wings or ribbons of motion. Experiment with different colours. Capture Christmas lights from a moving car. Look for dancing reflections on water.
Photos by Anke Weber
Balance Exposures for Ambient Backgrounds
Decide how long you need to complete your light movement. This becomes your shutter time (often 5–30 s). Set the exposure for the background first, then adjust for the moving lights. Take a single frame without any light painting to check the glow of the lights and the ambience of the background. Ideally, there’s just enough detail to suggest a place or figures. Shape the brightness of your lights by dimming, diffusing, or simply changing the distance from the camera. Lights close to the camera glow brighter; those farther away appear faint. Continue experimenting until the balance creates the image you’re aiming for.
Photo by David Cox, Steel-Wool Photography
Play with Layers
Each exposure is a single brushstroke in time, but you can build on it with layers for more complex structures:
- Capture a series of movements using different colours or angles
- Combine multiple frames in post-process editing for layered motion collages
- Try multiple exposures
- Add flash for focus, objects, or figures
- Collaborate with friends: one person creates spirals, another traces lines, another stays still. Together you can create a living geometry of light
- Add colour in post-processing to deepen patterns, highlight variations, and guide focus using tools such as linear or radial gradients
We Tried It All Out
Several VCC members shared their light paintings with us, so we can show you a glimpse behind-the-scenes: LED-based patterns by Robert Nowland and Anke Weber, striking steel-wool photography by Erin Flanagan and David Cox, and abstract layering for rhythm and flow by Kathryn Delany.
Lights on a Paddle by Robert Nowland
Robert created a backyard setup to test light-motion painting in the dark. He strapped LED lights to a paddle and walked toward the camera while moving the paddle to create waves of light. The results are vivid and playful — proof that you can create striking effects right at home.
- 22 mm lens, focused at infinity
- 20 s shutter speed, f/9, ISO 500
- A paddle
- LED bars used for painting
Gallery for Robert Nowland
Throwing Light by Anke Weber
Anke set up her camera in the backyard, illuminated and focused manually on a nearby soccer goal post, and hurried into position as the self-timer counted down. She danced with her fairy lights, trying wide arcs, tighter gestures, and movements toward and away from the camera; much to the curiosity of a neighbour walking their dog. In post-processing, she added colour with linear and radial gradients. One image reminded her of a jellyfish, so she rotated, duplicated, and coloured it to create the triptych shown earlier.
- Canon R7, 24 mm lens, tripod, self-timer on 10 s
- Manual Focus, ISO 100, f/11, 20 s shutter
- Gold fairy-light LEDs
- Colour added in post-processing with linear/radial gradients
- See the gold vs colour versions at tinystarstudio.ca/throwing-lights.html
Gallery for Anke Weber
Steel Wool Photography by Erin Flanagan and David Cox
Erin Flanagan and David Cox shared stunning steel wool photographs set against a beautiful ocean setting at night. Rather than using LEDs or electric lights, they used burning steel wool to create fiery arcs and trails. Spinning fine-grade steel wool inside a metal whisk or cage on a string or chain, releases sparks of molten metal. During the long exposure, the camera records the glowing paths of those sparks as streaks of light. The results look like a glowing painting made of fire and motion.
Light Trails with Multiple Exposures by Kathryn Delany
Kathryn created motion-exposure light trails using multiple exposures. She combined movement, long exposure, and layered or sequential frames to capture dynamic light trails and several moments in a single image. Her approach included:
- Motion exposure to record the path of movement, whether it’s a person, object, or light source, using a slow shutter speed
- Light trails created by moving lights such as LEDs, vehicles, or steel wool
- Multiple exposures captured on the same frame, either in-camera or by compositing later, to blend different phases of motion or lighting.
She combined these methods to create layered, expressive images that show both the flow of time and the rhythm of motion — for example, a dancer traced by light or overlapping bursts of colour and movement in a single shot.
Gallery for Kathryn Delany
Share Your Story
When you’re done experimenting, share your results and include the story behind them. Post your favourite images along with setup photos, movement sketches, and short behind-the-scenes videos. These add context and deepen your audience’s connection to your creative process. People love knowing:
“How light became your brush and time became your canvas”
— Kathryn Delany
Final Thoughts
Painting motion with light is more than a photographic technique — it’s a way of seeing movement as art. It invites us to step inside time, to watch invisible gestures become luminous marks. Whether you’re tracing oars, waving lights through a forest clearing, or experimenting in your backyard, the joy lies in the dance between motion, light, and imagination.
Kathryn Delany and Anke Weber
Many thanks to
Robert Nowland, Erin Flanagan,
and David Cox for sharing their photos with us.
About Kathryn Delany
Kathryn is a multidisciplinary fine artist based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Her photographic interests span a wide range of subjects—from expressive wildlife to conceptual fine-art composites. Since joining the Victoria Camera Club in 2019, Kathryn has been awarded Photographer of the Year for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025).
She holds the Qualified Photographic Society of America (QPSA) distinction, earned through more than 250 acceptances in international exhibitions along with numerous awards and commendation medals. In 2025, she was further recognized by the Canadian Association for Photographic Art with the Maple Leaf (MCAPA) distinction for her outstanding achievements in photography.
Kathryn’s work explores the boundaries between nature and imagination, weaving together texture, tone, and layers of light to evoke memory, impermanence, and emotional depth.
Connect with her on Instagram (@colorsplashes / @colorsplashes_photo) and explore her portfolio at colorsplashes.com.
About Anke Weber
I live on the beautiful West Coast of Canada and love to be out and about with my camera. I enjoy how light shifts, how animals and moments appear, and how an image can hold the start of a story. Writing has always been part of my life, and I combine it with my photographs and sometimes my paintings to create colourful visual stories. One of my interests is nature and wildlife photography, but I like to shoot wherever I go. Right now, I’m learning about light-motion and night photography. I have a master’s in computer science and worked in several fun areas. I’ve also been a newsletter editor and website designer. I’m endlessly curious about discovering new tools, techniques, and media.
Edited by Anke Weber
Co-Editor, Close-Up Digital