As I write this it's the middle of May in the UK and the increasingly late and light nights start to become a problem for the dark art of lightpainting. Waiting until after 11pm for the light to fade so you can shoot in the dark hours can be a real pain especially when you have to be up early for work in the morning!
I find myself arriving home at 2 or 3am and being hungover the following day through lack of sleep. A hangover would be acceptable if I'd had a drink but hanging around in the dark until 2am can lead to feeling hungover the following day. Or at least it does in my case.
During the summer months we look for locations to shoot during more sociable hours where I can be home in bed at a more acceptable time of day without the worry of a non alcohol induced hangover the following morning!
This evening we visited Cadeby Tunnel near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The single track tunnel has been derelict for many years and no longer has any tracks. The slight curve on the tunnel means we can get some way in and it's almost completely dark in daylight hours.
This is what I bagged this evening. @neilru75 has a few more keepers too which were made with my assistance.
Fractal Faffery
I can't help myself sometimes and end up pulling out the fractal filter from my camera bag. Here I started spinning an orb tool behind the model with the fractal filter attached. With the camera still running, I removed the fractal filter and fired a red gelled flashgun with a smoke pellet added for effect. Again, with the camera still running, I replaced the fractal filter on the lens and let the lasers burn with the remains of the smoke pellet. All shot in one photographic exposure as usual.
Kinetic sweep
I've been a big fan of this kinetic stripe for a year or two. When shooting with other lightpainters, it's always good to come back with something different. I could have just settled for this shot with lasers and smoke but it seemed appropriate to add a kinetic stripe of light. I've done enough of these to nail them first time!
Russian Dolls?
I've done this figure within a figure within a figure shot before but not for a few years. It was good to have another go at this technique and requires the model to pull their hoodie or clothing forward so as to shield their face and chest from the flashguns located either side. Whilst @neilru75's hoodie wasn't ideal, I still managed to make this:
Practice Shot
This was a practice shot for something more elaborate being undertaken by @neilru75. For a test shot, I liked the way the smoke pellet enclosed the silhouette. I somehow seem to have a habit of busting out test shots which end up looking better than the actual shot I was going for!
And finally
I'm trying to remember to add some behind the scenes images to my posts here on Hive. Yet again I forgot to bag some camera phone shots but I did remember to shoot the muddy entrance to the tunnel. Straight outta the iPhone 14 Pro:
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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