I can’t say for sure where I first got the interest in light painting other than I got the idea while out west. My best guess of the inspiration came while watching the light play as the sun set while shooting with Jen near Phoenix. I’d seen and read about light painting before of course, but I don’t remember ever feeling a strong desire to try it before then. I do remember on my drive north out of Phoenix thinking about looking into the concept some more. I set up the first shoot that I’d planned to try light painting while in Las Vegas, but that shoot ended up falling through. The first time I brought a model to try light painting came in mid July with Kelsey Dylan.
If you’ve not come across light painting before, it’s photography with artificial light, but not the traditional strobe or flash. Instead of a short bright light, light painting works by putting a subject in a dark room, using a slow shutter speed, and moving a light source to light the subject. It allows effects that are difficult or impossible with normal flash. It’s not easy though. The long exposure times tax the ability of even the best model to remain motionless. A lot of trial and error is involved. Even now with several more shoots behind me I still find that I make more mistakes than I get right. I’m enjoying the work though and you’ll see more coming in the near future.
It was my first time working with Kelsey and she was great. She was also very patient as I tried and experimented through this. The photos aren’t perfect, but I did get a few that came out pretty well. These are probably the two that worked best. More to come.
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