I recently came across an interesting article on light painting – and I gave it a try last night. There’s no expensive special equipment required – just your camera, a tripod, shutter release cable and a flashlight. Then, in low ambient light use long exposure times and the flashlight to ‘paint’ light on your subject(s). Blah blah blah. It is a lot of fun… and you can get some fairly interesting results.
What have I learned from all of this?
1. I need better subject matter.
2. There are apples buried in the back of our fridge (I have no idea how they got there).
3. I am not a wine drinker (evidence? label falling off old bottle and dirty, dirty glass).
*whew* That was fun. Now beer me, please!
About this image: Digital photo, 30 second exposure… at… f-11-ish? Moderately manipulated (quite a bit of dodging and burning with levels adjustment layers, etc.)
Refrigerator Magnate 
We have apples and wine!?!? SWEET!
We have wine. We HAD apples. *om nom nom*
You ate my apples!? ;P
Uh… I have no idea what that means. 😉
Hello! This is exactly what got Adam in big trouble 🙂
Hahaha… but… the woman made me do it?! 🙂
Okay seriously though, I think this technique is really cool and I can’t wait to see what else you do with it! The possibilities are endless!
It could be fun, anyway! 🙂
So, is the flashlight lying on the table to the right? I’ll have to give this a try. Love the lighting especially on the bottle of wine with the lighted edging.
I just read an article a few minutes ago about slowing the shutter speed down to 1/20 to capture available light. Here’s the article: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/slow-it-down-shooting-at-120th-of-a-second-with-15-examples.
I moved the flashlight around the whole time the shutter was open. It’s lots of fun, and there are some interesting examples up on youtube, like this one:
Thanks for your link, too, J.G. – I’m looking forward to checking it out! 🙂
Very cool article – I could never pull it off, though! I’m SO shaky I would need I tripod on the face of the sun! 🙂
It’s not a hard as you’d think. I tried it today and got good results!
Hahaha – but you actually know what you are doing, J.G. 🙂
Sounds like a pretty neat idea. I’ll have to remember to try it.
I really do think you would enjoy this process – it’s a lot of fun! 🙂
I think I am going blind. I just realized there actually was a “reply” button under every post to embed a response. I kept wondering how everyone was doing it. I think I have gray/white color blindness.
I think your eyes are okay, Bearman – those buttons are MINUSCULE. But at least they are a color that blends in perfectly with the background! 🙂
It’s an excellent first attempt, but you may want to wash the glass next time. 😉
My best friend and fellow photog Timm Eubanks does beverage shots for a living. His blog is http://timmeubanks.wordpress.com/ (his link is on my blogroll as well)
Check him out when you get a chance. He does other cool stuff as well. He is also the guy who bought a refrigerator door at a junkyard and mounted it on the wall to stick his daughters art on, so there’s another connection.
I am digging this Robert.
Ha! Absolutely – that glass has seen cleaner days!
That blog sounds very cool – I’ll go check it out right now.
Thank you, sir – you are very kind! 🙂
My ears were burning and now I see why! That was weird…
There was very expensive tool called a “HoseMaster” (always made me smile) in the Eighties that everyone was into. It was precise beam of light with attachments for effects. I prefer the flashlight with a black card in front of it to keep the light off the lens. Play on!
It’s easy to see why your blog came so highly recommended – very impressive!
Ha! Yeah, I have to admit I’ve never heard of a “HoseMaster” before – afraid I’m still in cheap flashlight mode, but I’m having fun, so that’s the main thing, right?! 🙂
Yep, fun. Here is a link to The Hose master man himself, Aaron Jones http://www.repertoireart.com/artist_bios/jones_bio.htm
Cool beans! I learned about this technique when I came across Harold Ross’ work – pretty cool stuff. 🙂
I’m gonna take my camera next time I rob a house, this could be a new career move 🙂
I was thinking about bringing Lindsay Lohan, but she needs to hone her technique a bit first. 🙂
Shutters have speeds? Light makes a difference? I usually just push the button and hope for the best.
Hahaha – I think so – but I’m always just hoping for the best, too! 🙂
first of all, how do crinkled up mushy apples somehow get into the bottom drawer of everyone’s fridge. i just cleaned some out today.. AS i was also cleaning up the wine spillage that seeped under my fridge cus the tapper on the box was leaking all night.
i know, i’m a class act.
I think rotten apple hide-n-seek is a mystery of science (chuck a Nobel Prize at whoever figures that one out)!
I wouldn’t worry to much about the wine, either, B.D. – wine-in-a-box is… classic (I think). If you had noticed spillage and decided not to clean it up for a month or so that MIGHT be a different story.
🙂
I reckon it looks great with the subject matter you have. Great job. Cheese & Black Olives would go nicely too
Thank you, Tony!
Absolutely! Photo AND a snack! 🙂
BTW I went to the Bo Lumpkin school of photography because what he said makes sense to me…
I’ve never seen any of Bo’s photography, but I have a hunch he’s being very modest. BUT I have seen you’re photos, Tony, so I KNOW that you are being modest for sure! 🙂