Light painting is an endlessly creative photographic niche that can enliven otherwise mundane portraits and product shots with dazzling swirls of light, shapes, and even words. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it’s a practice that dates back to the 1880s, but with these light sources you’ll have no trouble making modern masterpieces that will get you noticed. Just slow your shutter speed, find your light source and start experimenting.

5 Light Painting Tools for Image Creativity:

1. Lume Cube RGB Panel Pro

Great for: Broad bands of light, multi-colored output, on-camera flash/continuous lighting.

If you need a light painting tool that go can pull double duty as an on-camera continuous light, the compact RGB Panel Pro is a solid option. Boasting 360 different colors with adjustable brightness from 5 to 100 percent and Bluetooth remote (via smartphone app), the lightweight RBG Panel Pro can be operated for 90 minutes at max output on a single charge.

Price: $169.99
lumecube.com

2. Ellumiglow EL Wire Kit

Great for: Thin wisps of color, wrapping objects and people, sound-activated effects.

Electroluminescent (EL) wire is essentially a thin copper wire wrapped in phosphor that glows a variety of colors when you electrify it. These battery-powered wires are highly transportable, and relatively inexpensive. EL wires are flexible, so you can wrap them around objects, but may also be somewhat fragile (so spin them but maybe don’t whip them around). The EL Wire Kit is available in 10 colors and several lengths (6-, 15-, and 25-feet), plus options that are activated by sound.

Price: $14
ellumiglow.com

3. Spekular KYU 6 LED

Great for: Wrapping models/subjects, longer photo shoots.

LED wands are a go-to accessory for light painters, but the Spekular KYU 6 delivers added versatility thanks to its wrap-able/wearable design. It outputs red, green, and blue light plus 15 derivative sub-colors. Brightness is adjustable over five levels and there are five effects modes: breathing, police, fire, TV, and fireworks. The KYU 6 has several mounting options for magnetic and non-magnetic surfaces. Its internal battery supports between 1-8 hours of operation, depending on use, but you can connect it to a USB power source for continuous use.

Price: $50
spekular.com/

4. Fotorgear Magilight

Great for: A wide variety of light-painting effects and light shapes, use with sparklers.

Boasting over 15 million possible color combinations, the Magilight is a highly versatile light painting tool. Measuring in at just over 3-feet long, the Magilight is splash-proof and draws power from a pair of rechargeable batteries capable of up to eight hours of operation.

It ships with a MicroSD card that has over 200 preset effects in it, so you can get up and running fast. It even has a small built-in hole to hold sparklers, so you can (carefully) combine electronic and flammable effects simultaneously. It’s also compatible with a wide range of brushes and blades (sold separately) to create additional light painting looks.

Price: $309
Fotorgear.com

5. Wicked Lasers LaserCube

Great for: Laser effects, projections, laser writing.

It’s not strictly a light-painting tool, but the LaserCube is capable of a wide-range of eye-catching effects that should appeal to many light painters. You control the LaserCube through an app that’s packed with a range of compositional tools and modes, including an option to upload photos, which the LaserCube then “paints” on a surface, and which you can then photograph yourself using a long exposure. You can also make drawings at various levels of detail that the device will then project. From laser light shows and animations to projection mapping and sound-activated effects, the LaserCube has plenty of options to experiment with.

Price:  $1,849 (1.2W version)
wickedlasers.com