Light Painting Photography - Part I

Painting with light isn't a new thing. I did a bit when I was at Newcastle College of Art & Design studying photography. I have not done any since. Recently inspired by some rather creative [infamous] American light painters, my new uber assistant and I decided to give it go. At the very least it would make use of the next few months of dark nights. This first foray into the infinitely creative world of light painting wasn't what I would call hugely successful but we did learn a few things and will be getting out there again in the very near future to improve on these basic efforts.

This first group of pics are just a bit of experimentation really. The 'creatures' are literally 'drawn' with a torch pointing back at the camera. Obviously you can't see what you've already drawn so it can be a bit tricky. Imagine trying to draw a picture blindfolded without being able to feel what you are drawing on. The circular patterns are created by twirling various light emitting devices and moving towards the camera. 

One of the coolest light painting images I've come across is Dennis Calvert's Burning Man (check out that gallery to see how this stuff should be done). So we had a go at trying our own versions. Our variation used a torch to draw an outline (of me) and then we 'applied' the flame effect and single glowing eye. We only had a chemical glow stick to create the flames so I had to tweak the shot a bit in Lightroom (which is a big no-no in Light Painting circles) but the overall effect is quite cool. Each photograph is done in one exposure. There is no compositing of images. So the last shot had four separate stages of light painting in and ended up being a 281 second exposure. Brighter LED based glow sticks will help improve this type of shot we think. So stay tuned for more light painting photography adventures.

p.s. Look out for the very cool Light Orb effect next time too!

p.p.s Any couples planning a winter wedding - some of these techniques could be applied to create the most spectacular wedding photographs ever!! I'm game if you are... Get in touch via my website. 
Henry