Charlotte Photography Meetup Group - Light Painting 7 - Portraiture

Last night, I hosted my 7th Light Painting Meetup with the Charlotte Photography Meetup Group.  We usually shoot outdoors, but tonight we were fortunate enough to shoot inside in the AC.  For those of you not familiar with light painting, it is capturing light through a single long exposure.  Exposures can be seconds to minutes to hours.  There is no limit to what you can create.  All images are created in camera without the use of photoshop or other programs to create the lighting effects.


We had a great group of photogs and for most this was their first time light painting.  We covered a lot of tips and techniques in our 3 hour session. Everyone got to be a shooter and a model.  Everyone got to create their own unique images.  And everyone got to experience the WOW and the frustration of crafting an image.  Photos from our meetup can be seen here. 


I was so busy, I was only able to shoot about 7 frames.  Chris Ballance was my only model of the evening.  I am pretty happy with such a high keeper ratio from this shoot.  

 

Light Painting is not necessarily about having a sharp image.  Most images have a soft quality to them because the image is painted with a moving light source.  When you move the light, the shadows that are cast move also.  The camera records the first shadow and the second and third and can give an out of focus look to your images even though the model is stationary.  This is just part of the craft.  If you want a sharp image, don't move your light source or use a flash.


I think the most important aspect of Light Painting is the flow and emotion you feel from the image.  I have studied incredible images from Patrick Rochon and Aurora Crowley that are slightly out of focus, but quite awesome just the same.