I hope all is well and that life is good. Chris and I managed to align diaries last night and got back out into the Peak District. Back to the Kiln to shelter from the weather. It rains a great deal in the North of England and having this place so close to us both is a real bonus.
I took along a sheet of glass which I commandeered from a broken picture frame. I also had a spray gun with me as I had an idea for a really cool effect. Unfortunately we couldn't make it work as envisaged but I shall practice at home and fingers crossed I'll get what I was looking for in the future.
Whilst the glass was set up I thought I'd put it to use in a different way. Chris sprayed the glass with water to leave lots of droplets behind. I opened up the aperture and focused on the glass. This thew the background into lovely blur and if you look closely you can see a perfectly flipped refraction of me stood in the kiln. Blurred out lasers look amazing and this will be something I explore further soon.
I recently treated myself to a Pro Mist Filter 1/4 from a company called Pig Iron. This gives a wonderful misty/ ethereal look to the image. I like such tools as I believe little touches/details added to a shot can take it from a 7 out of 10 to a 10 out of 10.
Here I paired it with a back lit silhouette and a camera rotation of the www.lightpaintingbrushes.com black fiber optic brush and orange filter attachment. Finished off with the laser. I think it really adds a nice dimension to the shot and brings drama and a sense that some major occurrence has just taken place.
This one is similar to the title shot. Again we focussed on the glass but this time Chris hit up either side of the glass with a blue torch. I feel this effect works as it tricks the viewer into thinking they are looking in through a window. Stood in the rain whilst something is going on inside the building. That's what I get anyway and I believe a sense of story is super important to photographs such as this.
This was the last shot of the night for me. I took away the sheet of glass but kept the earlier lighting set up in place. I remembered an effect I created a few years back using use EL Wire. I stand in front of the camera and wave the wire about on strobe mode. Simultaneously bringing one side close to the lens and the other end away from it. I repeat this action moving my hands slowly up and then down to fill the frame. More cool texture which I think just adds a little bit of extra magic to an otherwise samey shot.
I hope you enjoyed following along with our adventure from last night and if you have any questions about any of my work please feel free to drop me a line.
Cheers to Chris for all his help and as always it was a great evening catching up, having a laugh and creating some awesome imagery. Chris bagged some real bangers.
Gear used....
Sony A7ii
Nikon 20mm F1.8 G
Lightpainting Brushes Tools
Pane of Glass
Manfrotto Carbon Tripod
Light stand & Clamp
BLF Q⁸ Torch
Green Laser Pointer
Convoy S2 torch
Pig Iron Pro Mist 1/4 Filter
Lightpainting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure. Nothing is added or removed in post processing.
/nolayer /notricks /nophotoshop
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