光電涂鴉

Special-effects photographers use light in some unusual ways. But what happens when the light itself is the subject?

When the room is dark， a narrow beam of light can act like a radiant2) pen or brush. And just like writing with a pen， you can use a flashlight or penlight to create \"drawings\" in the air and photograph them.

特效攝影師在拍攝時會通過一些出乎意料的方式來運用光線。然而，當光線本身就是被拍攝的對象時，會發生什么呢？

在黑暗的房間內，一束細小的光線可以成為一只發光的鋼筆或畫筆。就如同用筆寫字，你也可以用手電筒或筆形電筒在空氣中“繪畫”，并把你畫的圖拍攝下來。

Materials:

1. Camera with long exposure3) capabilities (the longer the better)

2. Source of light (flashlights or penlight work the best)

3. A black room(or outdoors at night)

材料：

1.有長時間曝光功能的相機(時間越長越好)

2.光源(手電筒或筆形電筒的效果最好)

3.一個黑暗的房間(或者夜晚的戶外)

Start Writing

The most basic technique is to have your assistant point the light toward the camera and write a word， preferably4) backwards so it will read forwards with respect to5) the camera. Or he could draw a simple picture—a star， crescent6) moon， or spiral7).

Whatever words or shapes your assistant decides to write， he should wait for you to start the exposure before he turns on the flashlight， and he should turn off the light as soon as he finishes writing one word or one line. If he draws two or more lines， he should be sure to turn the penlight off before he starts the second line， and the third.

You'll need to put your camera on a tripod8)， because the exposure times will be many seconds long. Your assistant must wear dark clothing to wield9) the light. Your camera must also be able to execute10) a Bulb11) or Time exposure—or， at the very least， be able to make a 30-second exposure.

This probably isn't the most exciting technique， so let me show you how you can improve on it.

開始涂寫

最基本的方法就是讓你的助手把光線指向照相機鏡頭，然后寫一個字，最好是反著寫，這樣在照相機中顯示的字才能正著看。或者，他也可以畫一幅簡單的圖——一顆星星、一彎月牙兒或是一個螺旋。

不論你的助手決定寫什么文字還是畫什么形狀，他都要等你開始曝光后，才能打開手電筒，并且，他在寫完一個字母或畫完一條線之后要立即關掉手電筒。如果要畫兩條或兩條以上的線，他一定要在開始畫第二條線之前把手電筒關掉，畫第三條線之前也是如此。

你需要把照相機放在三腳架上，因為曝光時間長達數秒。你的助手必須穿上黑色的衣服揮動光線。你的照相機也必須能使用手動時間快門和長時間曝光快門——至少具備30秒的曝光功能。

這當然不是最令人興奮的技法，所以讓我告訴你該如何改進。

光線勾勒

采用光線勾勒法，你要先在黑暗中完成繪畫，然后打開照相機閃光燈拍攝畫作。

這里是我為朋友尼克拍攝此類照片的方法。他坐在漆黑的房間里，身后是黑色的天鵝絨背景，這種天鵝絨不會反射閃光燈的光線。我的助手身著黑色外衣，戴著黑手套，拿著紅光的筆形電筒站在尼克身后。她將筆形電筒指向照相機鏡頭，并用光圍繞尼克勾勒輪廓。接著，她關掉手電筒，換成另一種顏色的手電筒，重新打開，再畫另外一個輪廓，然后迅速離開。接著，我按下“開啟閃光燈”鍵進行拍攝。

Light Tracing12)

With the light tracing technique， you first do your drawing in the dark， and then illuminate13) the subject with an electronic flash.

Here's how I made this picture of my friend Nick. He was sitting in a darkened room in front of a background of black velvet14)， which won't reflect the light from the flash. My assistant was dressed in dark clothes and gloves， and she stood behind Nick with a red penlight. She aimed the penlight at the camera and traced around him. Then she turned off the light， changed one with another color， turned it on again， and drew another outline， then got out of the way， and I pushed the \"open flash\" button to fire the flash.

Light Trails15)

Another light-drawing effect is to use a candle as your subject—not the candle itself， but a trail of light created by the candle. To take this kind of picture， the model should walked slowly across a dark room carrying a candle， then turned to face me， and I fired the flash as I did for the picture of Nick.

All Strung up16)

Here's a great idea to try. When you're a passenger in a car at night， set the lens aperture17) to f/16 or f/22， point your camera out the window， and leave the shutter18) open for ten seconds or so. The more the car jiggles19)， the more interesting your picture will be. If you're at the amusement park， definitely try taking a long exposure of Ferris wheel lights or the fireworks display.

光線軌跡

另一種光線繪畫的特效是把蠟燭作為你的拍攝對象——不是蠟燭本身，而是蠟燭點燃后的光所形成的軌跡。要拍攝這類照片，模特需要手持點燃的蠟燭緩緩走過一個黑暗的房間，然后轉過身面對我，我打開閃光燈，用給尼克拍照的方法拍下這幅畫面。

全體注意了

這兒有個很棒的主意，值得一試。當你在夜間乘坐汽車的時候，將鏡頭光圈設為f/16或f/22，然后把相機伸出車窗，打開快門10秒左右。車身越搖晃，你拍出來的照片就越有趣。如果你在游樂園，那么可一定要試試用長時間曝光的辦法拍攝摩天輪上的燈，或者拍下綻放的煙花。

When the light itself is the subject， magic happens.當光線本身成為拍攝對象，魔法便會出現。