Last night @fadetoblack and I finally aligned diaries and ventured out in to the dark. Tim has been loving his new found life as a couch potato and I've had dodgy knees. So last night my knees were in good condition and Tim's partner must have thrown him off the couch!
We arranged to meet up at Millar's Dale Car Park and headed down a disused railway line to Chee Tor Tunnel. The railway line used to be one of the main Trans-Pennine routes from Yorkshire to Lancashire and has been repurposed as a tourist path for walkers and cyclists. About a mile from the car park is Chee Tor tunnel and at about 400 yards long, it makes a great place in which to practice our art form!
Our usual modus operandi is to each create a lightpainting helping each other with the image. Tonight I went first and had an idea in my head to do some old school lightpainting.
Old school new school
I like the idea of white and a single colour in a lightpainting image. For this one I placed a bare Godox AD200 behind Tim and fired the flash to create the high contrast white and dark spaces.
Once happy with the first element, I stood behind Tim and created some old school light blade wavy stuff. It's not perfect but "it'll do"
For the kinetic stripe, I signalled to Tim to switch on the flashlight he was holding aloft and I panned the camera. This is more "new school" for me since I only just started using this technique.
This image was created in one photographic exposure and isn't a Photoshop creation.
Old school wavy gravy
After I bagged the above image, I helped Tim with his next creation using a tilt shift lens which turned out nicely and will soon appear on the Hive. Then it was my turn again.
The lightpainting stuff I create nowadays can get rather complicated so last night I decided to go old school and create some wavy lightpainting. Simple to do; a rear located strobe and me wandering around in the dark like a fat ninja!
Chee Tor Getaway
Writing this post about Chee Tor tunnel reminded me of another occasion visiting the tunnel and this previously unseen version of a lens and tripod swap image. I overlooked this version in favour of another attempt at this complicated stuff. It would take me an age to explain how this was created in one photographic exposure but the one thing that stands out for me is that this kind of image isn't possible without the assistance of a lightpainter on the same wavelength as me. Tim and I have worked together for nigh on 10 years and if I describe an idea, he understands the premise without me having to explain it!
Flux Capacitation
Tim and I have experimented quite a bit over the years. This is another example and formative shot for another idea which develops as we shoot ideas out.
Tim stands very still and I fire the AD200 behind Tim. I rotated the camera 180 degrees and fired the flash again. As I'm rotating the light that Tim is holding remained lit up to create a trail.
Experimental stuff and this got way more complicated as the night progressed!
Be sure to check out @fadetoblack's excellent body of work here on the Hive. I'm pleased to say I've contributed to some of Tim's stuff and if nothing else it's great practice not to mention exercise!
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/
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.
If you would like to see more lightpainting please give the Lightpainters United Community a follow and you will be introduced into the illuminating world of light painting!
If you want to see more examples of lightpainting, feel free to check out these guys:
Mafu Fuma | Oddballgraphics | FadetoBlack | DAWN | Mart Barras | Stefan Stepke | Nikolay Trebukhin | Lee Todd | Stabeu Light | Maxime Pateau | Stephen Sampson | lightandlense | Neil Rushby | L.A.C.E.
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