To complete a freeze light painting, you need a light source and an SLR camera with flexible controls. A tripod is also necessary to avoid camera shake and to have absolute control when shooting. If a person does not own a tripod, the camera can go on a flat, stable surface such as a chair, table, bench or brick. Before beginning light painting, the photographer must learn how to control the camera's speed, or ISO. The ISO is the camera's sensor that detects light sensitivity. ISO shouldn't exceed 100 because if it is any higher, digital noise will appear in the photo.
The photographer must also master the camera's exposure time, or shutter speed, which is the time the frame is exposed to light, or the length of time it takes to capture the photo. Long exposure times are used when doing freeze light. The exposure time should be as long as it takes to draw the image with a light source. Therefore, the photographer should click to open the shutter as a second person begins light painting, and then close the shutter after the image is complete. The more complicated the light image, the longer the exposure time.
The camera's aperture, or f-stop, controls the amount of light reaching the sensor. Aperture settings are 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22 and 32. The f-stop can be changed for freeze lighting depending upon the scene's external light conditions. The smaller the f-stop number, the more light can pass through the lens, which is ideal in low-light settings. If there is more light in the frame, the aperture should be higher, lowering the amount of light entering the camera's sensor. In the case of an external light source in addition to the freeze light, use a very bright light source to freeze paint an image.
Before beginning the light painting, sketch ideas on paper to be sure of the light strokes that are going to be made and which lines should be simplified. Thinner light sources achieve thinner contour lines. To do the actual freeze light painting, you must first be sure of the camera's frame edges. You must look through the camera's viewfinder to discover what falls inside and outside of the frame. Therefore, you will be sure not to paint outside of the frame. When light painting, use the body as a guide to correctly position the lines of light. You should stay mostly in one position when drawing the lines of the image with the flashlight, and always remember to direct the light into the camera's lens.