Painting with light – (well not really)

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I belong to an online photography site that has weekly “challenges”. This challenge was: “Make RED your focal point in the photograph”. As a result I came up with painting the light bulb.

Here is how it was done:

1). Black 1/4″ sheet of plexiglass bottom and backdrop.
2). Modeling clay was used at the base of the bulb to secure it in the upright position.
3). L.E.D. continuous light panels were used with a diffuser attached.
4). Lights were placed on each side pointing at the light bulb.
5). Small bottle of RED paint that is typically used by model builders.
6). Tripod.
7). Infrared shutter release.

*Helpful tip – tilt your back drop away from you. When you look into it you should see your ceiling. If you don’t you will see yourself and your camera in the reflection of the back drop. I photographed this in a dark room with only the two L.E.D. lights. As a result I was able to dial in my set up in such a manner that I did not pick up any reflection from the ceiling onto the back drop. How? Because the light falling on my back drop is darker than the light falling on the light bulb. So as I set up to expose the light bulb it wasn’t quite enough to allow the background to be visible. However, if you don’t tilt the back drop away it picks up all the light from the L.E.D. lights and it’s almost impossible to get rid of it.

Sony Nex -7, Sony 50 mm, f1.8, 1/20th, f10, ISO 1600.

I poured the paint back and forth over the light bulb with my hand/paint bottle out of view from the camera. As it was dripping down the light bulb Cheryl fired off the infrared remote numerous times. This allowed for multiples shots with the paint in a variety of configurations to the bulb.

We looked at our shots and went with the one we felt had the most visual impact. Paramount to our selection was the position the poured paint was in as it came from the top of the image and hit the light bulb. Then of course what looked best….paint dripping down to the base or a little paint etc., etc.

This was a fun shoot and something you can do yourself fairly easily. Of course there are many varieties on this theme. Be creative and experiment!

BY THE WAY – How many photographers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 1,001. One to screw the light bulb in and another 1000 to stand there and say “I could have done it better”. (smile)