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Ed Knepley | all galleries >> Photo a Day (PAD) since 5/04 >> feb_08_pad > 2/16/08 - Light Painting Example
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11-FEB-2008

2/16/08 - Light Painting Example

DISCLAIMER - Photo was NOT taken by me.
Over the past two weeks I posted several "painting with light" PAD experiments. As I had noted, I was preparing to lead a workshop for a local club. Unlike some photographers who charge big bucks ($0 here) to lead photo programs - and then spend time making their own images instead of concentrating on their "clients" - I took no photos (stood my camera on tripod in a corner out of harms way). My role was to talk shooters through a countdown leading up to "lights out", doing the actual light painting while counting "1-1,000; 2-1,000;...." through a pre-specified range - as well as ensuring that camera settings were compatible among among the several simultaneous shooters (it wasn't going to work if they each used different apertures & ISOs). It may sound self-serving, but the real trick in doing an image like this is the lighting - where and how long - and not the camera part (apart from composition). That's why I spent so much time in a dark closet experimenting with lighting and eventually went out and bought lights better suited to the job.
I wish I had been able to make a few images since we had a great time and tried a number of different techniques and subject matter. The one that folks seemed to like the most was portraits - one that's difficult for me since I have no models. I'm posting Esta's shot (with just the smallest of editing by me to soften the skin and the tonal transitions - couldn't resist) to close out the *Painting with Light Experiments*. The next one that I'll post is when I get a chance to get outside and use a 3,000,000 candlepower light on a large subject.

Canon EOS 20D
12s f/8.0 at 37.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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