The season of lights.

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 600D
Shutter Speed:1/49 second
Aperture:F/4.0
Focal Length:28 mm
ISO Speed:2500
Date Taken:Dec 25, 2011, 6:25:01 PM
Lens:EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Sensor Size:22mm

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 600D
Shutter Speed:1/41 second
Aperture:F/4.0
Focal Length:25 mm
ISO Speed:2000
Date Taken:Dec 25, 2011, 4:52:04 PM
Lens:EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Software:QuickTime 7.7
Sensor Size:22mm

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 600D
Shutter Speed:1/49 second
Aperture:F/4.5
Focal Length:29 mm
ISO Speed:1600
Date Taken:Dec 29, 2011, 4:20:40 PM
Lens:EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Sensor Size:22mm

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 600D
Shutter Speed:1/25 second
Aperture:F/5.6
Focal Length:55 mm
ISO Speed:3200
Date Taken:Dec 29, 2011, 4:22:40 PM
Lens:EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Software:QuickTime 7.7
Sensor Size:22mm

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 600D
Shutter Speed:1/49 second
Aperture:F/4.5
Focal Length:35 mm
ISO Speed:1600
Date Taken:Dec 26, 2011, 10:51:30 AM
Lens:EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Sensor Size:22mm

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year, especially because there are lots of great photographic opportunities. This year, I really enjoyed taking purposely out of focus pictures of the lights (for example, on a Christmas tree) as I think that it created a particularly effective soft blur which I thought looked interesting. I also really liked taking pictures of candles, as the flickering light created a warm glow to the picture, which I thought worked well with the theme of light. 

Light Painting : GlowDoodle

The following images were made using GlowDoodle.

This photograph was taken using CDs to create the technicolour effect, which I think worked really well 

and I like how it came out.

For this photograph, I used a red laser pen to draw lines on my face. You can pick up parts of my face (it also creates an interesting effect) as well as the light catching on my hair.

For this one, I used a blue UV light (which looks purple in the photographs). I placed the light under my face so it created an almost 'spooky' effect with the shadows, and I moved along the picture to create it 3 times. I then moved again with the light which creates the blurred light, which I personally really like.

For this one, I did the same as the one above, I just decided not to blur it to see how it came out. I like how the two left ones overlap slightly.

For this photograph, I used the same blue UV light as before, and quickly drew around my face, which brought with the line this interesting effect on my face. It makes my eyes look quite effective as well as how the light sits on my face. 

This photograph, however didn't work as well. The problem was that as I was taking the picture, someone else was taking one at the same time with a torch, which ended up overpowering the light I was  using, therefore not creating the effect that I wanted. 

Looking at artists: Patrick Rochon

Patrick Rochon

'Usher Tour Visual Light Painting' 

(part of a series)

CONTEXT

Patrick Rochon is a well known photographer best known for his light paintings. This series of photographs of a Jaguar XKR car were taken between 2010 and 2011, and were used to create visuals for the Usher tour.  However, these photographs were unfortunately not used, but they still remain as a collaborative collection of photographs. This technique of photography has been around for a while, but the bright colours that are lighting up the car make it look like a fairly modern technique. Rochon has been doing light painting photography since 1992.

AESTHETICS

In this series of photographs, blue and purple neon lights were used to create the dramatic effects. This was made by having the studio pitch black so that no other light would ruin or affect the picture. There were several cameras on the car each taking pictures from different angles and views as the light was painted (below there is a video on exactly how this series was made). The camera(s) were set to a very slow shutter speed (it might even have been on the B setting, where you can keep the shutter open for as long as you want), and as the shutter was open, people moved around the car with the purple and blue lights to create this effect. I think that it is really effective as the light shows the silhouette of the car, for example the curves of the car, and the rest of the photograph is pitch black, which draws attention to the car and the lights rather than anything that was in the background (if you could see it, that is). The composition has been structured well - there is a sense of a good use of the space, as the car takes up the majority of the photograph. There isn't too much black space, but the car isn't taking up all of the space, which works perfectly well.

MEANING

I'm not sure that there is any specific meaning to this collection of photographs. They were originally made for a tour, so that I think that they were created to draw attention, but nothing more. The car could symbolise something, but from the photographs or the artists comments about the series, it is not entirely clear if and what the message behind the series are.

PERSONAL RESPONSE

I personally really like this series of photographs. I like all of Patrick Rochon's work, as I am interested in learning more about light painting, as I think that it is a simple yet very effective way to approach photography. I think that the colours work well for this, and that the use of light has not been 'over used' in this photograph, as I think that that would spoil the simplistic theme of this. 

Click here to view the video on how this series was made.

Different Light Types.

Soft Light:
"refers to light that tends to "wrap" around objects, casting shadows with soft edges".
The softness of the light depends mostly on the following two factors:
Distance. The closer the light source, the softer it becomes.
Size of light source. The larger the source, the softer it becomes.
Soft light use is popular in cinematography and film.

Link here.

Hard Light:
Hard light sources cast shadows whose appearance of the shadow depends on the lighting instrument.That is, the shadows produced will have 'harder' edges with less transition between illumination and shadow. The focused light will produce harder-edged shadows. Focusing a fresnel makes the rays of emitted light more parallel. The parallelism of these rays determines the quality of the shadows. For shadows with no transitional edge/gradient, a point light source is required.
When hitting a textured surface at an angle, hard light will accentuate the textures and details in an object.

Link here.

Back Lighting:

Backlighting refers to the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer are facing towards each other, with the subject in between. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, while the other areas remain darker. The backlight can be a natural or artificial source of light.

Link here.

Front Lighting:

Front lighting is where there is either natural or studio lighting placed in front of the subject. This can create shadows on not only the face but also in the background. It puts more focus on the front of the subject.

Link here.

Studio Lighting:

Studio lighting is where lighting is set up in a studio and the photographer can plan where they want the light to be, for example, on the left or right side, back lighting, front lighting, etc... It gives the photographer the freedom to experiment with lighting to see how the photographs come out.

Link here.

Link here.

Natural lighting:

Natural light is a photographers most accessible form of light. It can create quite magical effects (as shown in the example below) for instance, if the light is shining through the gaps in the trees. You can do all sorts of photography techniques: backlighting, front lighting and more just from using the sunlight. 

Link here.

Torch lighting:

Torch lighting is when the photographer takes a torch and places it where they want the light source to be. It can create good effects and also can be very dramatic, as shown in the example below.

Link here.

Laser photography:

Laser photography is mainly used for Light Painting. This is made by using a very slow shutter speed, and painting pictures with the laser pen. You can use different colours and make all sorts of pictures. For example, the light painting below is of Bambi, a famous Disney character.

Link here.