Photographer reacts to excellent vs. average light painting photos. (Trying not to be too judgey!)
Hello friends and neighbors. Thanks for joining me again this week. And this week, it’s not about me. Last week we discussed my competition from all the smart phone photographers out there. This week I want to talk about what my colleagues are out there doing. I’d like to give you my reaction to a sample of light painting photography. You’ll see some new things, and I’ll show you some styles I love, and some that I’m not as wild about. Here we go.
Alright, let me start with a disclaimer: I have much respect for all the artists I’m going to discuss today. If I like something or don’t like something, it’s just my personal opinion. That takes nothing away from anyone who’s spent the time and energy to get out there and make their own version of magic.
I’m a Bad New First type of person, so I’m going to start with a style of light painting that just doesn’t turn me on. This is some work from an artist who uses the name Dariustwin. I should say that he is tremendously popular. I’ll link to his Youtube channel in the description, he’s got over 6,000 subscribers there. He’s also killing it on Tiktok, with like 450,000 followers. This is his photo, Stegasaurus in Space. I love the location, it’s gorgeous. The eerie sort of bleakness of the image is great, and the sky is incredible. The thing that I’m less enthusiastic about, is interestingly the thing that has made him so popular. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. The very intricate drawing he’s made in the center of the photo overtakes the beautiful scene, and demands all my attention. I would love to see some softer lighting to enhance some of these foreground details, and if a feature piece were needed, I’d like to see it a bit farther away, something that would blend into the scene a bit better. That, to me, would feel a bit less cartoonish (controversial statement alert). Definitely go check out more of his work, his website is here, and let me know what you think.
My next example is from an artist named Steve Sekellik. It looks like his niche is more in the event and architectural photography realm, but he dabbles in light painting as well. Now here’s a common mistake light painters will make: Doing elaborate and busy light-painting, and forget the basic elements of photography. This photograph is cropped too low on top OR perhaps the way the tripod is set up is making the frame cropped, and overall not terribly well composed. The background is interesting enough, but there’s just no need to have this much foreground, at the expense of losing the tops of the trees and the night sky above. In my view, light painting is best when it is just one element in a story, rather than trying to become a story in itself.
Let me give you a great example of that. This is some work by Eric Paré , one of my inspirations. Now in these scenes, you can see that if you removed the light behind the model, this would still be a gorgeous photo. The feeling of space, of emptiness, the night sky giving that ancient and timeless vibe, and a model perfectly placed within the frame to add that human element. All these are part of a winning formula, that only gets better with the addition of the light forms he uses, which really draw your eye and make the model an even stronger subject of the piece. This is what I mean by enhancing a scene, not overwhelming it.
Another example is these images in a tutorial by Tim Cooper, about the angles you should play with when painting with light. He does a great job of showing how light from the correct angle can bring out textures and details in a scene. He also shows how the wrong angles can flatten the scene, and just sort of make it boring. In these two star photos, you really can’t even tell that it’s a long exposure, or that it’s light painted at all. But you can see how much a correct application of the technique can amplify the subject. And in another photo of this beautiful old car in a Nevada ghost town, you can see how those techniques add a layer of interest to an already interesting frame, and really bring the scene to life.
My final piece is from a blog post by Jannis Sid. Love the drama here. This is a great example of how a simple bit of light work can change the whole complexion of the photo. If we imagine this as a standard photo, lit from the front or above, it frankly wouldn’t be that interesting. But with the darkness framing the subject, the bit of light behind taking on an almost ominous character, and the simple lines behind the subject giving them a ghostly feel, this photo really jumps off the screen. Well done Jannis.
Ah, I love light painting, and I’m so glad there are such varied approaches to it.
Now, if I have to be honest, I’d tell you I prefer my own work over all of these artists. I suppose a bit of ego is necessary if you want to conquer the world. Next week I’m going to do a similar deep dive into some of my work, to show you what I love about it, and what I’ll change next time. Show all these folks some love, check out their sites below. When you’re done with the like, subscribe, and notify buttons on my channel, go ahead and hit theirs too. Have a bright, and focused week, and happy holidays to one and all.
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