Painting with Light

To paint with a brush, you stick the brush in some pigment and then smush, smear, or gently caress a surface with the paintbrush – and viola! in time and with editing, a good image! With photography instead of a paintbrush you can grab a flashlight, set the camera on a tripod and at a long exposure, and then smush, smear or gently caress the scene with the light – and woot! in time and with editing, a good image! “Light Painting” is a technique in photography where the artist moves a light source while creating the photo, thus building images that have a wide array of light and shadow effects that cannot be accomplished any other way. The results can be spooky, sublime, dream-like and futuristic depending on the scene, the lighting you create, and the colors.

Probably the most famous example is this photo of Picasso quickly moving an ember to draw with light, by Yousef Karsh:

Besides burning sticks, you could use a flashlight, a laser pointer, a glow-stick, LED keychain – anything with a light. You’ll need longer time exposures to get the effects – experimentation helps. You could tie a flashlight to a string, and suspend it from a ceiling or swing it in the air. You could lash together fifty lights and sweep them through a room. You could take one powerful hand-held spotlight and illuminate the night, or use cardboard reflectors and the headlights of a parked car. The potential and possibilities to make images that are unusual seem endless: all you need is creative approaches to your scenery. (And don’t forget that you can alter your ‘white balance’ settings to amplify the color of the light in radical ways). Here’s some outstanding contemporary examples: 

Jens Warnecke and Cenci Goepel of Lightmark created these surreal moments: 

Kay Canavino of Adams, MA, has done a wide array of award-winning night scenes using light painting. For example:

To see more of Canavino’s work, click here: Night Portraits.

Chad Coombs –  inventive, gritty, and lively photographs include this high-fashion, dream-like portrait: 

In addition to his stunning fine art work, Patrick Rochon has used light painting for ads for Honda. He  makes incredible, surreal imagery as solo and group portraits:

A hearty thank you to Kay, Chad, Jens and Cenci, and Patrick, who each kindly gave permission to allow their photos to be posted here.  :) 

Students: I dare you to try out some light painting. Not required as a project, but will give 1-3 points extra credit if you try light painting and post your results to Picasa. Otherwise, your assignment is to keep working on your final project images, about which I urge you to carefully consider each composition -- your framing, cropping, rotation, etc. Reshoot if needed, edit as always. Deadlines are getting close so be sure that you figure out which publisher to use, and start building your book.

Finally, please schedule time to go to this year’s student art show, “Make. Imagine. Create.” which opens Thursday evening at Gallery 51. I believe Alex, Signe, Kevin and Stephanie have photos in the show, along with the artworks of many other students!