Review: Light Painting Apps for Android Phones

Date Posted: Nov 26, 2011

After recently upgrading my phone I thought I'd try out a few of the Apps available for mobile devices running Android. Many of these Apps are probably available on iPhone too.

Apps can be used in light painting for a number of effects. The most notable of these is the ability to create writing in your images, where the app displays letters on the screen over a set time period while you move your phone within the frame. Other effects include light patterns or blocks of coloured light.

All Apps were tested on Samsung Galaxy S2 running Android 2.3.3. Some slower phones may struggle with some features of some of the Apps.

Light Painting

Available from Android Market
Cost: Free

This is a very basic app which simply fills your phones colour. The coloured block can be used in your image during an exposure. You can choose from nine predefined colours (including black which seems a little pointless). There are a few drawbacks however, for starters there is no option to blackout the screen until you are ready for light. You will have to set the colour and then ensure the camera can not see the screen until you are ready. Once a colour has been selected the name of the colour is displayed in a box on the screen, which can also show up in your shot.

Verdict

The App is lacking in features but is very easy to use and could be useful for blocks of colour.

Light Painting, Light Graff

Available from Android Market
Cost: Free

Light Painting, Light Graff is an App for adding text to light painting images, along with a block colour feature. Either 2D or 3D text can be selected and you can also customise the font face, colour and specify the text to write. Timings can also be set allowing you specify how long each character should be displayed for and much time should be left between each character. The 3D mode allows you to additionally specify the stroke size and depth.

Light mode allows four colours to be specified, which can be selected by turning the phone on its side or upside down. Interpolation can be used to fade between the colours depending on the rotation of your phone.

Once you have specified all the options you press the launch button which turns the screen off. To activate the sequence you then press a button on your phone (usually the power button). The text will then scroll across the screen, so you need to time the movement of your phone with the activation.

The light output from the phones screen is very low in comparison to many of the tools used in light painting so your ISO will need to be high or aperture wide open. This can make it difficult to incorporate into a shot with other light sources. 3D text seems to be easier to pick up in the image, I struggled to get the 2D mode to be picked up by the camera.

Verdict

A useful App for light writing but as with all mobile apps for light painting the light output is a little low. This app has an impressive feature set in comparison to most other apps.

Dr. Light

Available from Android Market
Cost: Free

Another app for adding text to light painting images, with good results. The app allows you to enter your own text and select foreground and background colours as well as change the speed of the animation.

Once launched the screen goes black and the app waits until tapped. The text then scrolls slowly across the screen in a thin strip. The slow speed allows for enough light output for brighter images and the thin strip avoids blurring of the writing.

Verdict

A good little app that does exactly what it was intended for, and it does it well. Although lacking in features in comparison to to Light Graff the results are better and easier to use.

Magic Light

Available from Android Market
Cost: Free

Magic Light is a similar concept to Light Painting app above, however this one has many more features. Magic Light has four sliders - one for each colour channel (red/green/blue) to mix any colour combination, plus a brightness control. Two output methods are available - full screen or circle. In full screen mode the screen can be tapped to turn the light on or off. The circle mode allows the circle to be resized.

A random mode is also included. Any of the sliders can be set to random and an overall speed for transition can be set. I can't see this being a particularly popular feature as the results are well, a bit random!

Verdict

A great app with plenty of control. Perfect for adding any combination of colours to your shot.

Additional Apps

The following Apps are not specifically for Light Painting, however they could be useful tools when planning a trip or while out in the field.

Tide Prediction

Once your location has been set, the apps shows a graph of the tide height. Great for planning seaside LP sessions. Different days can be selected in the future or past.

Free Download

Moon 3D

Shows the current moon phase as a graphical representation of the moon, along with the name of the current phase. Any other date can be selected by dragging the screen left or right.

Free Download