Reception

In the early days of TV you would sometimes have to fiddle around with your TV antenna to get a clear reception, and sometimes in our lives we search for a clear meaning to our being. These were partly the ideas that led to creating this piece.

Illustration from Divine Journey

Enigma

Leonardo's Globe

Cascade

Glass Marble.

I remember as a child looking very closely into a glass marble and seeing all of the swirling colors. This picture was painted totally with filtered LED flashlights, plus some post production with photoshop. It is a lot more difficult to capture the luminosity and realism with watercolor or oil paints.

Ribbon Dance.

The Chinese Ribbon Dance is a dance that involves trailing a ribbon in space, so that it makes rhythmic patterns. Instead, I use a flashlight, and with time lapse photography I record the event.

Putting On The Ritz.

Level 8

Symphonic Forms

Alchemy Drawing

Night Flight

Floriana Mandala

Harvest

Lighting Totem

Avebury Crop Circle

Blue Lotus Mandala

Mandalas are often made with sand for one occasion only, before returning the sand to its source.

Sculpture in Light.

Painting with light can be a bit like creating sculpture and dance combined. You move rhythmically around with the a light,and the camera captures the whole performance in one single image. Nikon D200 with 18-70mm lens.

Spiral Dance

This was a technical problem while painting with light, that turned into a very interesting effect. The outcome looks like a woven fabric. I placed two layers together of the same image to enlarge the design. Nikon D2x with 18-70mm lens. 

Night Owl

This started as a drawing with light warming up exercise, with no preconceived subject idea. It did not take long before I saw the resemblance to the owl emerge, so I just added the beak to it. It is wise to stay flexible, and have an open mind to the possibilities. Nikon D200 with 18-70 Nikkor Lens.  

Oraculum

There is always the element of surprise when creating a drawing or painting with lights, which adds to the excitement. I normally have the idea for a new piece visualized before I start, but the outcome tends to be different because new possibilities emerge as the image grows. Nikon D2x with 18-70mm lens.

Neon Jellyfish.

Although I call this image "Neon Jellyfish", I did not create it with neon lighting. Just household light bulbs and LED flashlights, Nikon D2x camera with 18-70mm Nikkor lens, and some postproduction in Photoshop, which included 8 layers.

Bugaboo.

Sometimes things seem to create themselves. There was no original intention to create this Dustmite looking creature, but as I kept experimenting, it appeared. The light was a 40 watt household bulb, Nikon D2x camera with 18-70mm Nikkor lens. Some post production with Photoshop.

Illuminati.

The model was lit by the surrounding flashlights. Extra points of light were added with Photoshop, which included a total of twenty layers. The model had to keep very still for the twelve second long exposure. Olympus OM1n camera, with 50mm lens, plus tripod, and 50 asa/iso Ektachrome Professional slide film.

Orbita X

I first started painting and drawing with light back in the early 70s. There were very few examples of this kind of photography to be seen, so I had to invent my own different techniques. This was one of the first, which involved hanging a light from the studio ceiling and spiraling it around the camera below.

Doorway.

The Doorway was painted with sunlight through a prism. Nikon D2x with 28-105mm lens.

Light Painting Demo

This was a light painting demonstration for my photographic students. I used four flashlights covered with a different colored gel on each, orange, green, blue and purple. Although the two studio lights appear to be on, they were not plugged in. Just look close at the light bulb in the top lamp. The studio was in total darkness while I painted the background and lamps with all four flashlights while the students watched. Nikon D2x with 17-70 Nikkor lens, plus my trusty rusty tripod. Exposure was about 30 seconds at f8. ISO/ASA 100.

Icing on the Cake.

This image was created by moving the camera, and not moving the light. There was also some post production in Photoshop to achieve the symmetry effect in the design. Nikon D2x with 17-70mm Nikkor lens.

Gemini.

Strictly speaking this is not painting with light, because no light was moved throughout the exposure, but using christmas lights to illuminate this kind of subject is a bit unusual and got me the starry feel I was looking for. Nikon N90s with a 28-105mm lens, plus tripod. The exposure was about 8 seconds at f8.

Golden Wings.

Different light sources can be used to paint with, including your standard flashlights, candles, LEDs, glow sticks, car lights and fireworks. Golden Wings was produce from a photo of fireworks mirrored with itself. Rolleiflex 6008 integra 6x6 camera with a Schneider 80mm lens.

Orchid Light Painting

The first photograph I ever saw of someone painting with light was the one of Pablo Picasso painting a bull in mid air, taken by Gjon Mili in 1949. Painting with flashlights is a fun thing to do. You will need a flashlight, camera and tripod to record all your efforts. I prefer the LED (light emitting diode) flashlight for my light source, because it is very bright, has lower energy consumption and a longer lifetime. The photo of the orchid was taken with a Nikon D200, 17-70mm lens, rated at ISO100, with a twenty second exposure at f8. The tripod was a sturdy Manfrotto. The light was moved rapidly around the orchid to light both front, back and underneath.