Technique
LIGHT PAINTING
The light brigade Bright ideas come thick and fast for photographers with a passion for light painting. Tracy Calder asks six of the best to share their secrets
L
ight painting – simply put, moving a light source during a long exposure – is often considered something of a dark art. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some of the most celebrated artists in the genre began with little more than a DSLR, a torch and a general sense of playfulness. As light painters perfect their art, they often choose to specialise: some like to illuminate a subject or a carefully chosen space, others prefer to ‘write’ with a light source, forming bold, colourful letters or shapes. A few of these set-ups require multiple cameras and 14
teams of assistants, but most start with a simple light source – usually in the form of a torch, acrylic rod, strings or strips of LEDs, plastic tubes, fibre optic brushes or steel wool – a DSLR, a remote shutter release, a tripod, and a willingness to experiment. (Please note: there are dangers involved in using steel wool, so the utmost care must be taken if you decide to use this material.) Many of the light-painting artists featured here have posted a lot of advice about their techniques and approaches; so check out the social media details at the end of each of their respective biographies.
Eric ParŽ
Eric is a Canadian photographer whose work mostly involves light painting and multi-camera installations. Eric travels the world, sometimes with hundreds of cameras and sometimes with a single light-painting tube. See Instagram: @ericparephoto and kimhenry.dance; YouTube: ericpare; Website: ericpare.com. LIGHT painting allows you to break out of more traditional approaches to photography – suddenly you are with the subject, instead of watching from behind the camera. There is something healthy and creative about the whole process, and that is what keeps me at it, pushing myself over and over again. Also, because each picture is lit by hand, every photograph is totally unique, which really appeals to me as an image maker.
14 March 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
