How do i make a 'Light Drawings?' ?

Question

I have a Nikon CoolPix S210 which has many modes.

For example, a couple would be: Night Portrait, Night Landscape and Fireworks.

I know that you need a 'long shutter' in order to make a light drawing.

And of course a light pen.

But do i have 'long shutter?' and would i be able to make light drawings with my camera? If so, how?

THANKS A LOT!

xx

Answer 1

You might be in luck, how ever it is unlikely, you need a mode that opens the shutter for around 8-30 seconds (depending on how long it will take you to do the drawing). Some thing LIKE 'star capture mode' could be the sort of setting you are looking for, how ever even with a long shutter speed there are other factors of how the camera works that you would need to adjust to get perfect results which you can only do on an SLR/d.

Also of you are going to have the shutter open for a long time consider where you will put the camera for that time, as to getany sortt of un-blured result you need to have it in a fixed position, such as on a camera tripod, failing that use some masking tape to affix the camera perfectly still on a solid surface such as a table and if possible use a shutter delay (like when you are trying to be in a group photo not just behind the camera) so prevent camera shake.

Finally if you are having a go at photography why not think about getting your self a dSLR such as a Canon XT / Canon XTi or a Nikon D40, these are all about as affordable as an slr gets and will really help for photographic experiments such as light drawings.