Digital Photography by ikswotamatterB

[brettamatowski]

Hey folks,

Just thought I would start a thread of my photography studies.  What I'm really into now is "Light Painting", not the kind where you just use streaks of light to write or draw something, but using light to actually paint where i want it to be.  Not sure if it makes sense but there's quite a few examples out there on the internetz.

What I'm using:

Canon Rebel Xsi
Adobe Photoshop CS4
Several types of flashlights
Whatever I can get my hands on to shoot.

In order to paint with light, I set my Shutter speed to 30 seconds, with my aperture as small as it can go.  ISO is at 100, and a very dark place with a very still subject, which is key in order to get the results I want.

Here's some examples of what I've recently done.








You can see that he moved a little bit because I scared him with the light.





Finished product.  Couldn't light up the plants in the back because he decided to change position on another plant in mid view of the camera.




I've just recently picked up Light Painting, but after experimenting for a few hours, I've seen a major improvement since I now know how long to expose light to certain areas for even placement.

[TheGrayK]

pretty crazy stuff cant wait to see some more light painting
I am very intrigued by it.

Ive always been into photography but never actually took a shot at it
this just might push me into it.

[brettamatowski]

Thanks Gray

If you do want to pick it up, Light Painting, that is, I'd recommend a tripod and a camera capable of 7 second exposures or more.  ISO at 100 gives pretty crisp and detailed results.  Also, with a tripod, you'll be able to paint a certain part of your still object in one capture, then paint another area of it in another capture, and so on, so that you can layer the images on top of each other and blend them in Photoshop, bringing you a nice result such as the third photo of my Gecko.

Hope this helps a bit.  I'm waiting for it to get dark here again so I can go experiment some more.

[brettamatowski]

Here are two sceneries I did tonight.  Each one has roughly 15+ pictures total.  Each picture, I paint only a small area of the entire picture, and continue to paint different areas with light.

[TheGrayK]

So far my favorite is the very first in the first post with all the flowers.
In the second picture of the second post are you going for a 3 Dimensional feel?
Thats kinda what I got with what was closer being a little brighter.
What I would like to see is more of the whole making things that are vibrantly colored POP!

And I plan on getting my hands on a nicer camera soon and I already have a tripod.
Cant wait to play around with this!

[brettamatowski]

In the second picture of the second post are you going for a 3 Dimensional feel?

What I was basically doing was painting light on each side of an object that stands out in the scene.  One picture (30 seconds) would only consist of me painting a small portion and one side of an object.  Each object has atleast 3-5 different pictures taken with different angles of light, then all of the pictures are layered on top of each other to get the 'light from all sides' look to it.  With this one, I was trying to only highlight things that definitely stood out and leave some areas completely dark allowing some depth in the image.

What I would like to see is more of the whole making things that are vibrantly colored POP!

Don't worry, there'll be more!  I've only just begun with the whole light painting thing and I plan on experimenting with several different subjects.  I'm possibly going to make a series this year when the leaves are falling just right and all of the colors are perfect; oranges, reds, yellows, browns, and of course blacks, since all of these are taken at night or in pitch black rooms.

Thanks for the comments

[brettamatowski]

Some Black and Whites I did..


.:Composite:.


.:Light Source:.


.:Under the Bridge:.


.:Envy:.

[brettamatowski]

Went to a German Colony today 20 miles west of where I live.  Took a few pictures, not very many turned out so I'll just post this one for now.

[Pieter]

Love those last two pics. Especially the way you "painted" the light on the house. Gives it that dreamy surreal atmosphere.

[brettamatowski]

Thanks, Pieter!

Glad you like them.  It's been rainy all week and I've been sad that I don't have a mount for an umbrella on my tripod.  Hopefully when it dries up a bit I'll feel like going out and taking more.

[brettamatowski]

Check up or add me to your watch on DA to recieve quicker updates of my work.  Anyways, here some stuff I've been working on.
Click the link 'My Deviantart' in my signature to go to my profile to view images in better quality as well.

Water series:







Typologies:
This is only the first out of the 30 that I have to take.  Still have to take 29 more of them.

[brettamatowski]

Just some panoramas I did today.  I feel like doing more because they're intriguing.  Expect more yo!








Click here for my full gallery (and better quality images): DevArt

[TheGrayK]

did you use a super wide lens or photoshop?
Edit: Im fairly certain the last is photoshop.

[brettamatowski]

Photoshop because some of the panoramas exceed 120 degrees.  Good thing Creative Suites 2 and up have a nice feature for attaching images together.  Perfect for fast panoramas.  My next experiment is 200 degree pans and possibly 360 degree.

We'll see! :B

[StickyWicky]

I would love to see a 360 degree panorama, as your work so far is superb.