In order to get where you want to be, even if you don't know where it is you want to go, it's necessary to first work out how you're going to do it! Over the years I've experimented with different lightpainting techniques and worked out for myself how something I've seen was created or endeavour to try creating my own "new thing"
One of the problems I've encountered with lightpainting over the years is if I think of an idea or innovation, someone has already beat me to it and done it before.
So my unofficial goal or mantra is to work out how to make something new and original within a lightpainting image. I don't think I've quite succeeded yet, but I'm getting close!
Rotating a model aka a happy accident
I can't remember the name of the model but the idea here was to light paint the model with a home made colour changing light wand and then rotate the model with a camera rotation tool. I didn't quite line everything up as I should but I do like the abstract result where the model's face crosses over herself!
My neighbours think I'm an alien
I got hold of an old bicycle wheel and set it up on a welded A frame so that the wheel stood vertically and could spin freely. I attached a long string of Christmas lights to the wheel and photographed the lights' motion. The slightly random nature of this appealed to me but less so with my neighbours who wanted to know what in the hell I was doing in my back yard!
Here I've used the same wheel and combined it with lighting up my garden fence:
Light tool making
Alongside lightpainting experiments I used to like making the lightpainting tools for myself. Here I bought a 10 watt RGB colour changing pool bulb off eBay and attached it to a piece of drain pipe with a switch and a 12 volt battery pack. I've got another one of these in a drawer waiting to be assembled!
A challenge too far?
One of the hardest lightpainting things to do for me is orbs. And when you create a half round orb they get even more tricky to get right! This is about the best I ever got and even though I learned how to create half round orbs, I don't tend to do these because they're so damned difficult!
Wavy light thing
After many nights of practice, I realised I may not be that great at the wavy light stuff. As I progressed, I changed my style to suit my skill and do less of this kind of thing:
Affected Assassin
In my earlier years of lightpainting I used to Photoshop the results. Maybe a little too much like here where I've used the "extrude" filter in Photoshop. It's around the time I shot this with @fadetoblack that we realised that shooting in one photographic exposure was the way to go!
Apparently there is light at the end of the tunnel
I started to experiment with mixing colour in the scene. I saw a lot of lightpainting images where there was some interesting light waving but no context or lit surroundings. I've since tried to include the areas around the subject and here I faffed around with colour graduation.
Burn skate park burn!
This is one of my very earliest lightpainting images where I spun steel wool orbs in different places around the scene. I set up four egg whisks pre-loaded with steel wool and wandered around the skate park in total darkness and spinning each ball of fire as I went. They aren't the greatest, most perfect of orbs but it was a good exercise to learn the planning and preparation required!
Canal bridge of fire
This was my first ever attempt at steel wool spinning. On this shoot, I had my kids with me who nearly died laughing at me when I accidentally set a carrier bag full of steel wool on fire and I kicked the burning mess in to the canal. The bag floated downstream still alight looking something like a Viking burial ship! The kids didn't stop smirking for ages, the cheeky little scamps!
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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