Night Photography
(And Black and White Photography)
By Ellie Race
Light Painting (Test One)
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This shoot was my first time trying light painting and overall it didn’t go as well as I thought it would. I think that I need to look into some of the ore technical techniques to create a better-rounded image. I was able to use a small torch to create the light and by swinging it around, a half visible orb had started to appear. Because of the slow shutter speed that I used I noticed a blurry effect to the background of my images, in the future I will be using a tripod to counter this effect. Above are some of the images that I think went well, even though they have faults. I will be doing ore experimenting with light painting and hope to achieve a more professional image by the end of this project. The colours of the images are all the same – white. They are simple because this was my first attempt but I plan on moving onto more complicated and technically challenging images very soon. Overall my images look nothing like the ones of a professional, but I have now become aware of the challenges faced with light painting and I will now be able to move forward and successfully take them on with more knowledge.
I have decided to model my night photography work after my first inspiring photographer – Darren Pearson. I want to further my work in the way that e does and create a good quality image. My next photo-shoot will be another light painting and this time I hope to have my image un-blurred and some object/person/animal present within it. My goal is to create a much more sophisticated and creative image.
Of my own work the image I decided to look at further in detail is displayed above. I decided it was the least blurred of the images and had to most to offer. I have not used a tripod while taking my images in this photo-shoot – this was my first mistake. The type of composition that I attempted was radial, I wanted the light to the centre of attention and the first thing that you look at when viewing the image. I believe that this went successfully, but that may be down to the background being unrecognisable and having nothing else to catch your attention. I am not overly happy that the outcome was poor, but I am happy because of the skills I will not take away from it after learning how to not do light painting. Through Photoshop I used only one tool – saturation. The limited editing is what makes my image, and by draining the colour the light painting stands out even more in the centre of the image. Something I have noticed in other light painters is the lack of people that are present in the final image. While the person that helped me produce the images this time is not fully visible, their bottom half is still a distinguishing feature within the image. Next time I decide to experiment with light painting it will be my goal to not have them stood in the image and to have a clear shot of the light and background only.