Light painted still life

richj20 wrote:

A beautiful composition.

Would you explain your technique?

Thank you Richard. I take multiple exposures (2-3 seconds typically) where I paint a small part of the image with a small flashlight. I'll mix in light from multiple angles and a mix of hard and soft light using the bare flashlight and the flashlight with a homemade diffuser. I stack them all in photoshop and use masks to bring in the parts I want to be part of the final image.  
I get asked a lot why I don't use strobes or constant light. One, I enjoy the process of making images the way I do. Two, not as evident in this image but I like to play with subtly surreal light with a mix of hard and soft shadows from multiple directions. I could probably do that with strobes/constant lights over fewer frames but again, I like the process. I'll post another image that's a little more "unnatural".

imnotmarvin wrote:

richj20 wrote:

A beautiful composition.

Would you explain your technique?

Thank you Richard. I take multiple exposures (2-3 seconds typically) where I paint a small part of the image with a small flashlight. I'll mix in light from multiple angles and a mix of hard and soft light using the bare flashlight and the flashlight with a homemade diffuser. I stack them all in photoshop and use masks to bring in the parts I want to be part of the final image.
I get asked a lot why I don't use strobes or constant light. One, I enjoy the process of making images the way I do. Two, not as evident in this image but I like to play with subtly surreal light with a mix of hard and soft shadows from multiple directions. I could probably do that with strobes/constant lights over fewer frames but again, I like the process. I'll post another image that's a little more "unnatural".

Nice photo.

The first time I saw this approach (1980-ish), the plant photographer was to photograph a failed part. The room was dim, & he had one hardware store reflector with a 60 watt bulb. He set his Crown Graphic up on a tripod, clicked the shutter open & danced around like a madman, waving the wide, feeble light source wildly. Except he wasn't. He knew exactly how long he needed to expose, from what direction. His single photo showed the key features perfectly. Not his first rodeo.

Jack Tingle wrote:

imnotmarvin wrote:

richj20 wrote:

A beautiful composition.

Would you explain your technique?

Thank you Richard. I take multiple exposures (2-3 seconds typically) where I paint a small part of the image with a small flashlight. I'll mix in light from multiple angles and a mix of hard and soft light using the bare flashlight and the flashlight with a homemade diffuser. I stack them all in photoshop and use masks to bring in the parts I want to be part of the final image.
I get asked a lot why I don't use strobes or constant light. One, I enjoy the process of making images the way I do. Two, not as evident in this image but I like to play with subtly surreal light with a mix of hard and soft shadows from multiple directions. I could probably do that with strobes/constant lights over fewer frames but again, I like the process. I'll post another image that's a little more "unnatural".

Nice photo.

The first time I saw this approach (1980-ish), the plant photographer was to photograph a failed part. The room was dim, & he had one hardware store reflector with a 60 watt bulb. He set his Crown Graphic up on a tripod, clicked the shutter open & danced around like a madman, waving the wide, feeble light source wildly. Except he wasn't. He knew exactly how long he needed to expose, from what direction. His single photo showed the key features perfectly. Not his first rodeo.

Thank you. I feel in love with the work of Harold Ross and decided to give it a try. I've kind of gone in a different direction then him but he's a master.