A lot of time and effort can be made to create a Light Painted image, not just the time spent crafting your art and learning different techniques with a plethora of available LP tools but the time spent researching a dark and interesting location. I have found most of the time it is beneficial to do a recce or scout of the area in daylight, for many reasons. Many Urbex and natural locations can be dangerous to navigate in the darkness and finding a composition just with a torch can test your photography skills to the limit. Plotting a route to my location helps to identify the shortest, hazard-free paths and avoid disturbing any locals.
Shot on a very busy night on the narrow verge of the A31 in Dorset. As you can see by the car and truck trails, the traffic was relentless and running over to the other side of the road to paint my very basic shapes, was a bit scary. The Stag Gate was constructed with the boundary wall of Charborough Park in 1841. The stag has 5 legs and after a bit of research I found that none of the "old stories" were correct and that the 5th leg was actually added for stability.
On many occasions the location has not been so much as hazardous as a derelict building is but can sometimes be very remote and with a fair few Kg's of camera gear, torches, batteries, light stands, lenses and spares, it can be a long hike into the darkness. The Hell Stone (or Heel Stone) is a Neolithic Dolmen on Portesham Hill in Dorset and this shot was from my 1st solo visit. It was a very difficult and muddy 2 mile walk through cattle fields luckily on a calm night. On a second visit with a friend we had been caught out with a snow storm and with the oozing mud nearly over the top our Wellington boots we sheltered under a tarp just venturing out into the storm to get a single shot. Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate that shot on my PC?
Lots of great locations for LP lie in the middle of very busy populated areas and this can have it's own challenges and not just with the ambient artificial lighting but also with inquisitive members of the public. Coming from a very popular seaside town of Bournemouth, with it's more than average share of Stag/Hen parties that will usually end up on the beach with the revellers trying to dunk the Stag/Hen into the sea. Most of the time, contact with these overly friendly types can be avoided by giving a wide berth and coming back a little later.
Many of my favourite locations are relics from the two world wars. Gun batteries, pill boxes, air-raid shelters and fortifications to name but a few. The problem is with these types of sites is that some of the locals or enthusiasts take it upon themselves to be the guardians of these derelict structures and crumbling remains and they can be very over-protective. I think that many of them see every visitor as a vandal or firestarter and seem to treat them in that way. I'm only there to take photos and so I feel no guilt.
After more than 10 years creating Light Painted images (these shots are from 2014-2015) I have found it almost essential for my physical and mental wellbeing to have a few locations that are off the beaten track and far away enough that there won't be any passers by. If they are always accessible and covered it can even be a place to go in bad weather but you have to get there first. St. Aldhelm's Chapel is one such location and after the 2 mile walk to get there it is a relief to find this calm stone building on the top of a windswept cliff-top. With enough space for a couple of LP'ers you can concentrate on some elaborate shots without being disturbed.
Give the Lightpainters United Community a follow and you will be introduced into the world of light painting.
You will find innovative and original light painting from various artists from all over the world. Have a look at the profiles of some very active Lightpainter in the group: Mafu Fuma - Oddballgraphics - Fade to Black - DAWN - Chris Thompson - Mart Barras - Stefan Stepke - Nikolay Trebukhin - Leetodd - Stabeu Light - Maxime Pateau - Stephen Sampson - lightandlense - Neil Rushby
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Great article with great insights and beautiful pictures, Thanks for sharing.
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Some really great shorts and a good article 😊
Top set buddy. Really nicely thought out and executed.