Lighting How To

In 2004 I was out late one night for a walk on the beach, as I often did to de-stress from a long day at work. This night was particularly beautiful, with a full moon shining overhead, so I decided to bring my camera and tripod along to take some oceanscapes. I found the perfect location, set up my gear, and opened the shutter of my camera for a long exposure. While the exposure was running I accidentally bumped my camera. When I checked the image and saw that the light from the moon had left a streak going across the sky I had an epiphany. My mind raced at the possibilities of using my camera and the moonlight to draw images in the sky, and from that moment on I was a light painter.

Over the years my light painting work has progressed much like the history of light painting photography. The majority of my early images are what I consider “light drawings.” The next stage in my work came when I discovered the father of light painting, Dean Chamberlain. When I discovered Chamberlain’s light painting work it opened my eyes to the possibilities of using lights as brushes to literally paint in a scene. It also allowed me to visualize something much more significant in my personal life. It allowed me to see a way to get back into a dream that I had been trying to revisit since I was a kid.

When I was young I had a dream where I went to a place in my mind more beautiful than anything I had ever experienced. I was in a forest that was bathed in the most beautiful, warm, colorful light that you could possibly imagine. Vivid reds and oranges illuminated a pathway; vibrant greens, blues, and purples coated the trees and plants. As I grew up I would always try to force myself to have this dream again, but was never able to. Chamberlain’s light painting work reminded me of this dream and showed me that light painting would allow me to recreate images that otherwise would have remained locked inside my imagination forever.

Tech Notes
Everything you see in my images is created in real time and captured in one single photographic frame. There is no Photoshop or postproduction work used to create anything you see in my images. I truly believe light painting is about getting the image right in the camera and not creating it in a computer.

To create my images I use Canon cameras, Coast flashlights, and a plethora of custom-made light tools. I use a Canon TC-80N3 intervalometer to make my exposures. Using an intervalometer allows me to push a button and lock the shutter open while in Bulb mode. Some of my favorite light modifiers are plastic bottles and Rosco gels. The focus of my light painting work is about using my camera as an instrument for recording light rather than a tool for documenting a moment. One trick that I use is to shoot with the in camera noise reduction off until I get a shot worked out. Then I turn it back on because the in camera processing can take two to three times as long as the exposure on really long exposures. I print my light paintings on Kodak Endura Metallic Paper and front mount to acrylic glass, or I print on metal. Refer to the captions for tech information on the shots themselves.

The Process
I love nature and anything outdoors so naturally my favorite subjects are landscapes. I visit the state parks in Florida as often as I can. My normal routine is to stay at a park for a few days and hike during the daylight hours to find locations and get some ideas, then sketch things out in a notebook. When the sun gets low in the sky I head back to the location I have found with all my gear and get set up.

As night falls and I am looking down a dark wooded pathway or over an empty stretch of beach my imagination runs wild with the infinite dreamscapes light painting allows me to create. Most of the time I shoot alone. When I can convince someone to come along it’s usually my beautiful wife who models for me. I really enjoy incorporating people into my images.

For the average person there is nothing very exciting about my light painting process (unless there are some wild animals chasing me through the woods). Besides the critters there are other elements to deal with that can make it rather difficult: weather, bugs, and the occasional weirdo are just a few. I will often shoot for hours or several nights to try to get one single image that I am happy with. People often ask me if I get scared working out in the woods alone at night. Yes, it does happen from time to time, but I find that a dark, desolate location, with all my senses heightened, is when I feel the most creative.

For more images and information, please visit Jason D. Page’s website at www.jasondpage.com.