Forays into Light Painting

I discovered Twin Cities Brightest and Hobsonish some time ago and have since wanted to try my hand at similar artistry.

For Christmas, I received two sets of cold cathode tubes (available on Amazon), in red and blue. These are designed for use in a fancy gaming desktop computer, with a switch and loads of wires for connecting to a computer's power supply.  This makes it difficult to use them for light painting.

So, I called my friend Erik, who has spent significant time wielding soldering irons and the like to create exciting light displays.  We headed off to Radio Shack, bought some AA batteries, battery holders, and 9V battery clips; and did some electrical work to create a portable light rig.

Erik also had some switches and a hot glue gun, allowing us to combine the battery pack, voltage converter, and switch all in one hand-held device.  Twin Cities Brightest has a tutorial on how to do this available here, using the same brand of cold cathode tube.

After constructing our handheld lighting rigs, we hiked out to the state park (we share it as a backyard) and the original B&O Railroad grade, now a walking trail.  A stream runs underneath, through one of many impressive arched stone culverts.  I set my camera on a tripod, ISO 100, f/6.3, shutter on 'bulb' with remote control.  No clouds and a 3/4 full moon.  Our shots were usually 3 to 5 minute exposures.

I'm quite happy with our first experiments and look forward to messing with these lights a lot more over the next year!

 

Help Portrait 2011

I heard about Help Portrait sometime last fall.  Immediately, I fell in love with the idea: professional photographers spending a day taking portraits of people who otherwise could not afford it and giving them those prints for free.  After some research, I discovered a Help Portrait event in Roanoke and brought a couple friends last year.  It was a grand time of taking portraits, meeting people, and seeing joy come through simple things.

I went again this year, with my friends Karli and Micah.  Several photographers from last year - Sam, Josh, and TJ - were back, and it was great to see them again.

I have very little to show for the day, as I spent much of my time taking portraits of the various people who came through.  These photos were taken, printed, and given away.  The original files were deleted, never to be used for personal gain.  I do, however, have the photograph above, taken of Micah as we were goofing around during a lull in the action.

While there, I had several conversations with some of the people who came to get their portraits taken.  Many of them, such as Mike and Sarah, had come to the Roanoke Rescue Mission for help.  They had been struggling with addictions to alcohol or drugs.  Some had hit financial difficulty.  It was wonderful to see them smile and have portraits of their own as a testimony to how they, by God's grace, had overcome addictions and were working through difficulty.  Many got their portraits taken to give to a faraway mother or other family member.

Help Portrait founder Jeremy Cowart posts some stories from Help Portrait on his Google Plus page.  All over the world, this event has brought joy, hope, and healing to many people.

Take someone's portrait, print it out, and give it to them.

Such a simple, yet powerful idea.

 

Senior Portrait Freedom: Bring Your Own Creativity

I had the pleasure of taking senior portraits for Rebecca over Thanksgiving break.  Several days of rain gave way to a windy, somewhat overcast day as the storm system blew out to sea.

We began our session in historic Ellicott City.  Many of the sidewalks and other surfaces were still wet, giving an interesting color boost to the photographs.  Afterwards, we went to the Daniels Area of Patapsco State Park.  A break in the clouds and significant wind gusts brought some more dynamic shifts for more interesting portraits.  This is one of the most exciting aspects of what I do.  The time of and weather during any given portrait shoot is an incredible unpredictable variable.  Sometimes, it forces us to cancel - as does torrential rain.  Sometimes it changes the mood of a portrait series.  Low sun brings warmth; dark clouds bring a somber air.  Sometimes wind adds a sense of energy and dynamics - or just gets in the way.

What makes a portrait session truly exciting for me is when clients bring their own creativity.  I've had people show up with no idea what they wanted from their portrait session.  Rebecca, however, brought her journal and some clear juggling balls as props.  She had several ideas about backgrounds and poses for her images.

I like the idea of multiplicative creativity.  Whereas someone might come to a portrait session and expect me to do everything, it is so much more rewarding when they bring their own ideas and energy.  It doesn't add up so much as multiply.

Anyone can show up and get good photographs from any number of photographers.  But if you bring your creativity and ideas, I think you'll get something truly unique.

 

Seniors, Friends, and Vikings

The month of October has been much busier than I anticipated - so much so that I haven't really had the time to write about anything that I felt would be remotely interesting enough for this website.

Do you want to hear about shear flow and how loading a body along the shear center will cause shear and bending but no torque?  I thought not.

Anyhow, I have had the chance to do some photography this past month.  Over Fall Break, I had the chance to take senior portraits for Leanne over at the Howard County Conservancy.  Fall colors were just starting to come out fully; the warm weather and late-day sun made for some great photographs.

The next weekend, I got together with some friends of mine from InterVarsity, who all live together.  They wanted some house portraits as keepsakes.  We spent 45 minutes wandering their neighborhood on a very bright afternoon and got some great portraits (with the dog too!).

Finally, this past weekend, I ended up heading over to Jefferson National Forest with some friends who had made their own incredible How to Train Your Dragon costumes.  We spent an hour or so running around a field late Sunday afternoon, getting all sorts of great pictures.  This was, by far, the most fun I've had yet with a photoshoot.

November will bring some more senior portrait sessions - hopefully I'll have the chance for some more fun creative random ones as well!