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[ 33 ]› › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKSALL IMAGES BY KIRK NELSON UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
In this project, we’ll give a ballet dancer a set
of glowing wings that seem to be comprised of
pure light energy. We fully encourage you to cre-
ate your own light streak resources, but if you
don’t have the time or available resources, feel
free to use ours!Step One: Crafting your own light-stream
effects is fun and easy to do. Glow sticks are
ideal for the task. They’re readily accessible at
most party stores and inexpensive too. Having
a variety of colors is a fun addition, but certainly
not required. It’s important to use a dark room
with a solid background. A tripod is essential to
keep the camera steady during the long shutter
exposure.
[KelbyOne members may download the
light-stream files used in this tutorial at http:
//kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for per-
sonal use only.]Step Two: To create the light streaks, the gen-
eral principle is to adjust the shutter to stay open
while you wave the glow sticks in front of the
camera. The exact settings will depend on your
setup, but these images were taken in manual
mode with an aperture of f/4.8, ISO 500, and
shutter speed 2 seconds. If the background is
clearly visible, reduce the aperture or ISO. If the
streaks are too dim, try a longer shutter speed
and move the glow sticks more slowly.