Painting with strokes of light

Dove into the deep end of light painting the other day. I've talked about the technique before. Except for the cemetery, that was all relatively small stuff. And even the cemetery was only composed of three main images, and didn't have a huge amount of lightpainted items composing it.

I've got all sorts of memos for myself typed into my Blackberry. I've got a phone that's a couple years old, but I bought it new from Ebay last year, so it doesn't have internet access etc. But the one thing it's really useful for is making notes to myself about interesting places I'd like to get a photograph and people I've met that might be able to help me etc.

Notes for projects, techniques I want to try. I've got four or five places noted that I thought would make for interesting light painting projects. One of them was a place I went to last year for an assignment. The assignment was about a small gathering of antique Dodge owners from around the country. Where they met was at a house near Kokomo. The gentleman (who I won't name because I don't want people mobbing him) has a really cool antique gas station. He collects antique gas pumps, vending machines etc. He has over the years collected a good amount of items and now has a gas station in his backyard that looks straight out of the 30's.

First attempt of light painting the gas station.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2009

I finally decided to give him a call and see if I could get a picture of the station. I explained what I wanted to do, which admittedly sounds pretty crazy. "Sir, I'd like to stand in your backyard for two or three hours - in the dark - and take pictures. Oh, by the way, I'll be running around with flashlights, just generally looking a little bit crazy." That's not the way I sold it, but it might was well have been.

And he still said yes. I think he understood I just wanted to do something different and creative. Not many people get that anymore.

The above image is composed of seven separate images. I shouldn't admit this, light painting "purists" probably see it as an abomination. Doing this on film meant you light painted the whole scene in one long exposure. I decided to use technology to my advantage.

Doing this on film back in the day had its positives and negatives. Film was more forgiving of mistakes, yet you couldn't see what you had until it was developed. You probably could combine shots form different negatives into one image in the darkroom but boy does that sound like a pain in the ass.

What the station might look like for a decent exposure, without light painting.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2009

Using digital means you can see immediately what you have, but digital is also less forgiving than film I think. It used to be shooting digital was like shooting slide film, every exposure had to be perfect. Digital has gotten away from that quite a bit, but I still think you have to be pretty precise. The good with the bad.

In doing all the HDR I've kept myself occupied with this year, a technique I came across was using HDR software as a part of processing a light painting image. The basic idea is you light paint each item or person or place in a different exposure, then with the HDR software, you combine all the exposures. Similar to what I did with the cemetery, except I cut out the specific items in Photoshop and then pasted them into a final image.

It's much easier to let the software do it, than spend the time to do it myself. As I said, "purists" probably consider this an abomination. I see it as working smarter. Painting the individual objects in the scene is still work, there are still choices to be made about what kind of light to use, how long to make the exposure etc. The difference between doing this on film or digital is that with film, one mistake can screw up an image that was a 30 minute exposure. And you might not realize the mistake until you got the negatives back.

With digital that mistake can be seen immediately and corrected. Yet doing this scene in one 30 minute exposure can still mean you might make one small mistake at the end of the exposure, wasting that 30 minutes. I think it makes more sense to make one exposure painting a small portion of the scene, and see how that turns out. If it's good, then move onto the next item in the scene. If it's bad, make another exposure until it's right.

Second attempt of light painting the station.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2009

I started about 8pm setting up for the first attempt of the station. I played around with that angle for 30 minutes maybe before deciding the second angle had more potential. I felt like being able to see into the building more along with the door, read the station sign to the right and several other factors made for a more complete image. More of a storytelling image. In processing both attempts, I realized both had things to like about them.

I'm sure I'll forget something important to mention here should someone want to try it themselves. One thing is, it's not always as dark out in b.f.e. as one might think. There were some clouds in the sky, but I wouldn't call it completely overcast.

Depending on the night tho, the glow from the light in Kokomo can be seen for 10 or 20 miles. I was only 10 miles from Kokomo here, so in some of the longer exposures the light reflecting off the clouds affects the image a little. My exposures were from 20 seconds to a minute usually, since I didn't need the time to light the whole scene. That's something to think about in a longer exposure, say 5 minutes or more.

I adjusted the sky in each of the images in PS before I combined all the exposures, to correct for some of the weird color casts I had.

Another thing I learned in combining the exposures in Photomatix was not to combine all the exposures at once. The first attempt was 7 separate images, the second attempt was 18 images. The final image worked better from Photomatix if I combined two or three of the exposures at a time. Once I had 7 images that each had two or three images making it up, I started combining two of those images. Basically just a process of stacking the exposures.

There are ways to do all of this exposure stacking in PS, for myself I just find it easier to do in Photomatix. I think the same results, just different wys of going about it.

After doing this one, it's got me excited thinking about the potential of the other places I'd like to try light painting. It also has me thinking about a quote I just came across from comedian Stephen Wright.

"I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it."

He was joking, but thinking about how to excute the light painted scene is probably more important than actually creating the image. Doing the later without engaging in the former probably is going to result in a quite spect-crap-ular image.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Comments containing off-color or hateful language may be removed.

Swim Portraits

As part of a two person staff now, my shift is nights during the week. This week I've had two swim portraits to shoot of h.s. swimmers who will be competing at state. I wish I could shoot them in whatever pool SI uses, it must be filled with magic water. Their swimming portraits always look so cool.

The first one was on Tuesday of a sophomore, Julia Walters, who swims for a school in another county. I wasn't positive what I was going to do for the photo, none of the pools around here are really all that cool at first glance. That's what strobes are for I guess.

Sophomore Julia Walters will be competing at state
in the 100-yard freestyle.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2009

I set up a Dyna-Lite in the background, thinking I would place the swimmer at the end of the pool, sitting on one of the starting blocks. I put the Dyna-Lite in the background, clamped to a railing on the side of the pool knowing I wanted to use it to light up the ropes dividing the lanes.

I shot a couple test shots without the swimmer and where I was going to place the swimmer on the block, the Dyan-Lite didn't help give the pop of color I was looking for. Time to change plans.

While fooling around tho, i realized where I had the light set up would work well if I wanted to pose her in the water and get the ropes behind her for a little color. When she came out I did some shots of her sitting on the block, then had her get into the pool.

I don't have much in the way of light modifiers for the Dyna-Lites. Actually, even that is probably overstating it. I don't have anything, the only thing I've got are the standard reflectors that came with them. Couple months ago tho, I bought a roll of cinefoil in Indianapolis. For those that don't know, cinefoil is basically heavy gauge aluminum foil that is coated with black paint.

I had looked at prices for good barn doors.... and almost fell over. Most barn doors are $75, and thats just a starting price. Some are $100 or more. Ridiculous I say. I wrapped some cardboard with the cinefoil and used trusty gaffers tape to secure the seams. I bent coat hangers and attached that to both doors as a sort of handle. Using some black binder clips like one finds at an office supply store I can clip the doors to the reflector of the Dyna-Lite, creating a narrow slit of light which allows me to focus it a little more. It's not pretty, but it works.

I was working on the photos back at the office when my boss came in. The first thing he said wasn't, "hey, interesting photo" or "way to work it." No, it was "hey, she looks she doesn't have a swimsuit on." Huh? Uh, she is a swimmer. He was positive this photo, or any of the ones I had from the shoot, would not run because there wasn't a swimsuit showing. It bugged me for most of the rest of the day, it was a good photo, so what if her suit isn't showing? I could understand the argument if I had a photo of a softball player where a uniform couldn't be seen, but a swimmer?

So I get to Thursday. Another portrait of a swimmer, at a different school, this one in Kokomo. I was at the pool, setting up my strobes, going with the Nikons' this time instead of the Dyna-Lites. Variety is the spice of life right?

The swimmer was on the side of the pool waiting for me as I got the strobes set. One of the coaches for the team came over. "Are you with the Tribune?" Yes. "Is your name Erik?" Yes. "You shot the photo of my daughter the other day in the pool. I love it!! it was awesome, how did you manage to get the reflection like that?"

The mom is a coach of the swim team for the school I was at on Thursday, but her daughter attends the school I was at on Tuesday. And she loved the photo, had no problems with it in the least. Wants copies of it, thinks it's fabulous, wishes her daughter had told her that she was having her photo taken; etc, etc.

Vindication.

Now as to the current photo. Brittany Gauger is heading to state to compete in diving. So of course, it might be good to get a board into the photo. They've got a low board which is what the students use to compete from. But, I decided to use the higher board, as it had the better background.

Brittany Gauger will be heading to state to compete in diving.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2009

I set the background light on one of the lower diving boards pointed up towards the wall. Played around with the intensity and amount of zoom until I found something that worked. The light on her is to the right of the frame, down on the pool deck shooting up at her, with a snoot made out of corrugated plastic board. Anyone interested can find out more about snoots at Strobist.

I played around a little with this, having her sit on the board with her feet dangling off, but I decided this looked a little more natural and relaxed. Wildkats is the nickname for the school's athletic teams.

These assignments reminded me of something it's taken me a long time to learn, and still occasionally forget. Don't let anyone else get inside your head. Advice and criticism from others can be helpful, and sometimes it's necessary. One has to learn how to accept it willingly and not be hurt if someone says something not totally positive about a photographer's work.

But... After a decade of shooting, I realized that letting other people get inside my head when I'm working on an assignment is what prevented me from getting really good photos. It's what tells a photographer not to shoot this photo or that angle, because a boss or client or a reader isn't going to like the photo.

Photosynthesis by Bryan Moss and The Great Picture Hunt 2 by Dave LaBelle are two great books to help photographers, particularly photojournalists, understand this. Most photojournalists with a few years under their belt have one or both of these on their bookshelf. If you don't already I highly recommend buying them. No matter how long one takes part in photography, the well of inspiration occasionally runs dry. These books can help fill it up again.

Listening to that little voice inside is what can keep you from stepping off the curb right in front of a Greyhound bus. But it's also what can keep you from being more creative than you thought possible or were allowed to be.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily

reflect those of my employer.

Comments containing off-color or hateful language may be removed.

Light the Way

I think like many photographers, I have a love/hate relationship with lighting assignments. When it works, lighting is really cool. When it doesn't work I absolutely hate it. ;)

When I started shooting I didn't light much of anything at all. Basketball I shot with on-camera flash and the crappy quality that goes with it. Then I got a off-camera flash cord which allowed me to play around a little more on news and feature assignments, as long as I was willing to hold the light while shooting. After that I got a small lightstand which allowed me to put the strobe a little farther away, as long as I didn't stretch the cord too far, bringing the stand and strobe crashing down.

When I started shooting digital at a former paper, off-camera lighting was limited for the most part to using Norman strobes with Pocket Wizards for basketball. I could have taken it farther but there weren't any softboxes or other light modifiers, and it didn't seem practical. About 6 years ago, I decided to put together a lighting kit using a couple Nikon strobes. Even though I use Canon equipment at work, the Nikons are easier. They have pc connections built in which eliminates the need to buy expensive hotshoes with the connections.

Rotatech automotive engineer Bill Jeffers inside
a car at his workshop, March 2004.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2004

A lot of newspaper assignments tend to look like a turd to most photographers, something they don't really want to mess with but must to get that paycheck every two weeks. Some of the time, all I am doing I think is polishing that turd, elevating something crappy into something that doesn't stink quite as much. It's still a turd, but now it has a nice varnish on it. I am not really all that comfortable polishing the turd. I'd rather take the image and make it into something that needs to run because it's so good, rather than the image running because a hole needs to be filled whether the image is good or not.

The image of Bill Jeffers is one I was proud of. He has his own automotive engineering firm we did a story on. He's lit with a Dynalite off to the side. The light inside the engine is a Nikon strobe placed to shoot up into the air scoop. It's an image for a story that probably would run inside the paper, but if necessary, that image could run as a centerpiece on the front page. I think it's that good.

Calumet Rolling Kit
A. Pocket Wizard radio transmitters
B. Cords to connect PW's to flashes (Under the pouch are two Nikon strobes)
C. Various hot shoes to mount strobes to lightstand D. Lightmeter
E. Snoots made from corrugated plastic board
F. Tape, shims, poster tack, velcro strips
G. Strobe clamps H. Pony clamps

At the time I was still shoving the small amount of equipment I was using into an old camera bag. I slowly started accumulating more equipment and about 2 years ago I bought a rolling case from Calumet Photo. The rolling case allows me to walk into an assignment with much of what I need to shoot any photo I might need to for the newspaper. The rolling case makes it easier as I can carry a couple strobes, Pocket Wizards, clamps, various other things I might need.

Yet at times, even the rolling case can be a bit cumbersome. In crowds where it's tough to tow something behind me, situations where I don't want to have to worry about keeping track of the case while shooting.

It's in the past six months that I started considering getting an even smaller lighting kit. I would have liked to get two more Pocket Wizards, a transmitter and a receiver for the flash. It would have given me potential to use more lights if need be. Except two Pocket Wizards cost $380 which right now just isn't in the cards.

I could pull out the Wizards I keep in my kit but I'm always afraid that I will end up losing something. The potential for losing something seems to increase when I'm in a hurry, which lately seems like all the time.

The other couple options are the Tamrac Microsync system which runs about $220 and Alien Bees Cybersync system which runs about $140. Alien Bees came out with Cybersync system several months ago. Recently I have had several assignments that I went to and said to myself, "I wish I had that small lighting kit with me." I finally decided to do something about it and bought the Cybersync system. For $140 I got a transmitter and a receiver, plus the cords I would need to connect everything.

The quality is pretty good I think. It's not the quality of Pocket Wizards, but then there is a significant price difference. Overall, I think they're a good buy. And for someone just starting in photography who would like to start using remotes, it's definitely an easier way to start. I got the units 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving night was the first real opportunity I got to use them.

Alien Bees Cybersync receiver on left,
transmitter on right,
included cord to trigger strobe.
All stored in a Pelican Micro Case 1010

Every year in Kokomo, there is a park that gets decorated with Christmas lights. People walk or drive thru to see the display, donating what money they can, with the money going to benefit a local charitable organization. The opening night is always on Thanksgiving night. I have worked the past 5 holidays so I always shoot it. Getting interesting art is difficult.

Shooting photos of the light displays is easy to do, but that does get kinda boring. Shooting people looking at the displays with on-camera lighting is okay, but it has that on-camera look to it. I decided this was an assignment perfect to use the new light kit. Using the light kit meant I had to pick my spot, as opposed to finding someone interesting in the crowd to focus on and following them. I looked at a couple spots in the park and finally settled on this area. I clamped the light to the other side of this little house, which allowed me to light the area without getting any flash showing in the photo.

Amber Barlow and her four-year-old daughter Victoria look at the
lights display in We Care Park on Thanksgiving night.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

When I got the image of mom and daughter walking thru, I knew I had the photo I wanted. I spent a little more time after this image, trying to get some other people, but this one just works. The light from the displays doesn't really help with focusing so some of my stuff was a little too soft, but this image is quite good I think. The lighting on them looks fairly natural, the only thing I would change I think is to gel the strobe to better match the Christmas lights. I like the fact that the daughter is framed by the window and mom is looking back at her.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Comments containing off-color or hateful language may be removed.

Painting with Light

It's been a couple months since I was last here, sorry about that. It's pretty much all tied to it. Been kinda crazy, and creativity has taken a bit of a backseat to just getting things done. A few assignments I've had since my last post have all involved light painting. Not that they necessarily had to be done by light painting, but it just seemed easier.

Light painting is a bit like taking the long road to your destination. Like going from New York to Chicago by way of Argentina. There are sometimes easier ways to get an image, but the occasional light painting (L.P.) makes it more interesting.

The first assignment I had was in September to shoot an old cemetery that has some haunted lore attached to it. Needed an image to go with a story about Halloween and ghost stories. I had been out to the cemetery once before several years ago and got a fairly crappy image. Its in an isolated part of the country, surrounded by trees, no lights, typically can't see the moon.

Last time I did a long exposure, might have used a flash off camera; don't really remember to be honest. I remember I didn't like the results, but I really didn't know anything about L.P. at that time.

I had done some small scale L.P. at home back in January, my first time really experimenting with it. Took some items from around my apartment and played some. Had some success with some of my antique cameras.

A Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera from the mid-20th century.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2008

Some examples of L.P. are easy to spot, like this Brownie. Other examples are a little more difficult. This photo I imagine you could light in a traditional way using strobes but I think it's infinitely more difficult. Trying to restrict the light to just those portions you want to see on something so small to begin with can be hard.

Jerome Cemetery
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

I spent about an hour at the cemetery playing around taking long exposures. For the Brownie shot I used a small Maglite flashlight. I've got 3 different handheld flashlights I use, depending on how bright I need the light etc. The Maglites work well for replicating soft sunlight, and in that image it has a little bit of an antique look to it. I've also got a LED flashlight that has more of a blue cast to it.

Kodak Vigilant Junior Six-16 folding camera
Image copyright Erik Markov 2008

This folding Kodak camera I used the LED on. The color cast can be changed in PS of course but sometimes it just easier to use what will give you the look to begin with.

Painting something small like the cameras seems to be a different technique than painting something large like the cemetery. The cameras were done in one shot. I would practice with the light on the different portions I wanted to be seen, and once I had the amount of time and angle of light down that each spot needed to look good, I would meld all the spots into one final shot. Even once I had those times and angles it still took many tries before I got something I was happy with.

The cemetery was a different image tho. I played around some to find what angles worked the best. I used a 1 million candlepower light for this photo, and for some of the smaller items I used a 4 D-cell small spotlight. The big light works great for lighting the tree and the Miller headstone, some of the other headstones worked better with the smaller light.

One of the things to remember about L.P. is to get out from behind the camera. Light hitting the subject from a similar angle as the direction of the camera will look like crap. Particularly an object. Most people don't have shiny skin so it isn't going to reflect the light back to the camera as much. Many objects tho, even those that look dull or have a matte finish, do reflect some of the light back towards the camera if the light is coming from anywhere near the camera. Lighting from the side, top or bottom of an object is all it takes to keep an object from reflecting.

I didn't do hundreds of shots for the cemetery, only about 20, when I realized it was going to be difficult to get the image in one shot. I looked at the images I had and realized that each one had a different object that had the right light. I decided to cut the pieces apart and put it together like a puzzle in PS. Seeing as how the whole scene isn't lit, all I had to do was hide the seams in the dark spots. Maybe cheating, but this is an illustration to begin with so it doesn't really matter. It's not as if anyone would seriously believe the cemetery always looks like this. Ha!

A crude representation of the various slices of the images
brought together to make a whole.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

At the beginning of October I had an assignment to shoot a cover for our Howard County Living magazine holiday gift guide. I don't have a Christmas tree, being in apartment it doesn't make sense. An editor does have one tho, so she set up her tree and I used it as a background for some of my photos.

Using the tree as a background was a bit difficult because the exposure time to L.P. the gift was 20-30 seconds. If I left the lights on the tree that long the picture would have looked horrible. What I ended up doing was lighting the gift with the flashlight for various lengths of time, then going over to the plug for the lights and lighting the tree up for 1-2 seconds. Not a very long time, but it's enough to give it some color in the background.

One of several layouts I tried.
Also used a holiday wreath as a background for some.

Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

The photo that ended up being used
for the cover.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

As I said, I played around with several shots and the one I didn't think would be used for the cover is the one they like best. I put some lights into a box and propped the lid open. As i did with the tree, I lit the box in the darkened room with the flashlight first, then turned the lights on in the box for a couple seconds. Did this many times before I found the one I liked the best.

And there is a very obvious spelling mistake on the cover. Of all 10,000 magazines that were printed. Not my responsibility, not my embarrassment, I don't do headlines. ;)

At the end of October I had a portrait of a legally blind high school cross country runner to do for sports. I didn't have my flashlights with me and I didn't think to L.P. until I had arrived at the school. No matter. For this one I decided to use one of my strobes to do the L.P. I was able to get into a trainers room where I was able to control the overhead light, making the room completely dark. The door had one of those long windows in that are reinforced with wire mesh in the glass. Fortunately I always have a black nylon sheet in my light kit, I put that over the top of the door, covering the window and blocking the light coming in from the hallway. Using my strobe fitted with one of my snoots made with corrugated plastic board, I was able take a long exposure, and walking around the athlete, I hit him with the strobe in the places I wanted to be lit.

I like the look of it. It's not a Pulitzer, but it does the job of showing what he looks like. And being lit, but having some shading around his eyes, emphasizes the idea that he has limited sight.




I think the thing I like best about L.P. is that it isn't hard. It looks like it would be really difficult, but it all comes down to experimenting with a photo until I find something I like. It does take time to do, which does limit it's usefulness some, particularly when using it with people. Most people don't want to take the time to stand still long enough for one to shoot their photo this way. But every once in awhile you find someone who gets it and is willing to allow you the time.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Comments containing off-color or hateful language may be removed.

Cooking up an image

Reflected in a mirror, Trudy Henricks of Arcadia eats lunch
at the Anvil Inn in the little town of Cicero with
her granddaughter Lindsey Singleton, who was visiting from Westfield.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

For each issue of our bi-monthly Howard County Living magazine (which is rapidly approaching its year anniversary) we profile a unique and interesting restaurant. The magazine is focused on those readers in the upper income brackets, so all the articles are focused on things they would appreciate, such as the Anvil Inn in the little town of Cicero.

The restaurant's been open for about 30 years. Two years ago it was bought by a woman, Kimberli Baker, and her husband James DuPont. Baker grew up in Cicero and moved away to Phoenix where she met DuPont. Together the two started a catering business. Two years ago the couple were in Cicero and saw the restaurant was for sale, deciding to buy it.

As I was waiting for Baker to come out from the kitchen, I saw the image above. These are the kind of things I really love to see. Its got a lot of areas to look, a couple different layers of images that together with the story tell a reader a lot about the restaurant I think. The customers are lit with the natural light coming through the windows, while the painting is lit using a strobe and pocket wizard left of the frame.

Anvil Inn Chef Kimberli Baker talks about the Italian-style steakhouse she and husband James Dupont have owned for two years.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

This is completely lit with strobes. I hope it looks fairly natural. Some days lighting (that is lighting I manufacture, as opposed to natural light) comes fairly easy, other days it can be a struggle to create something interesting.

This was pretty easy with all the locally created artwork on display, I knew I wanted to try and get that into the photo somehow. There is a strobe off left of the frame with a small softbox on it lighting Baker. Behind her on a shelf in the background is another strobe focused on the painting to bring a little more light than the spotlight already there.


Fortunately for me, I had been working on my lighting skills for about a year before we started the magazine. And I'm still working on it. Like I said, some days it comes naturally. Once the mag started, I was expected to do pretty much all the lighting. It can be a lot to shoulder when you're the only one who is doing it, but I enjoy it. Fortunately, an assignment like this I'm given more time to work on it, which allows me to play around with some different lighting setups.

Even more fortunate, I recognized the opportunities the magazine gave me to try out things like this. I can say that there are some people I know who do not recognize these as opportunities, rather seeing them as albatrosses. That's a shame.


The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Comments containing off-color or hateful language may be removed.