Happy days. Some of my favourite subjects for my light paintings are eyes. I believe that they can be striking and hold interest due to their delicate details and individual forms. Add in some light painting and you are on to a winner. All of these shots are double exposures using the lens cap technique. You start the exposure with a macro lens focused on an eye and then proceed to swap lenses and fill the dead space of the pupil with whatever your heart's desire. The title image and a couple more below are based around the same concept but an altogether simpler technique of using an image of my eye displayed on a tablet screen for the first half of the exposure. This really simplifies the process as pictures on tablet screens do not move. Many a long night has been had, trying in vein to line up my own eye and keeping it still so my pupil falls in the middle of the frame. They are usually a nightmare but after much swearing and failed attempts the reward is overwhelming. The title image was prepared/created half at home and half in Chris T and my favourite Lime Kiln. I took a picture of my eye and edited it heavily in a glitch app on my phone. Transferred it to a tablet and left the house. Starting the exposure with a macro lens looking at my edited eye, two seconds of exposure, a lens swap to wide angle and took up position back lit by a purple/pink light and my laser. I used a custom white balance as this tends to tie in similar colours very well. This shot I had dreamt of for an age but put it off due to the fact I thought it would take me all night to create. I hadn't tried to tie an eye element with another LP element before so it has sat in my mind for too long. It transpires that I shouldn't have put it off so long as I bagged this one first try. The mental barriers I often put up in my head are always more easily overcome than I envisage. This was and still is one of my favourite LP images I have ever taken, as they don't come much more technical than this and it came out pretty much as I had dreamt. Another more recent one I took with my own eye which I'm proud of as I managed to line up my eye perfectly with some camera rotation. Again the more technical a shot is to create the more joy I get from looking back on it. I've always loved gazing upon the work of others and dissecting how an image was created. The ones which make me question how did they do that? Are always my faves. They make you want to study them for hours. Opposed to aimless blade waving or making circles behind people which barely holds my attention for a second unless it's done very well. Maybe no less a piece of art but not my bag in the slightest. One last one done using the eye from the title image. Another great thing about having a tablet full of images is that you need not worry about having an idea for an evenings shoot. You can always fall back on using something from the tablet screen to add an effect which might not be possible in a lime kiln or tunnel. I was unsure about using a tablet screen for LP in the beginning as I saw it as cheating but after using one for some years it is just another tool in my arsenal. To finish I chose this particular eye shot with a hand reaching out from the depths of my soul. Hands are another very emotive subject for me and I adore adding them into my Light Art. Pairing my two favourite subjects into the same shot ticks all my boxes. I think this one leaves the interpretation up to the viewer completely. I find it a bit disturbing (which was probably aim) but my other half sees the hand reaching out to help and kindness. I never really create a shot to give any kind of a message or meaning and rarely do they convey them. Another wonderful facet of photography and Light Art and one that makes me love it even more is other people's thoughts and feelings about my stuff. Their interpretations vary massively. Here below is some of the gear I used to create these shots. Sony A7ii I hope you enjoyed these shots and my write ups and should they raise any questions, please don't hesitate in dropping me a line with any questions you may have. Enjoy your Friday and the incoming weekend folks Much love Happy days Mafu Fuma - Oddballgraphics - DAWN - Chris Thompson - Mart Barras - Stefan Stepke - Nikolay Trebukhin - Leetodd - Stabeu Light - Maxime Pateau - Stephen Sampson - lightandlense - L.A.C.E @lichtkunstfoto @marlasinger666
50mm manual lens and macro tubes
Two tripods
20mm Nikon f1.8g
IPad
Lightpainting Brushes Blades and Filters
Camera rotation tool
Beauty Dish
Yongnuo 560iv and radio trigger
Laser
BLF Q8 super torch
Ryus Lightworks epic torch.
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