Here are a couple of shots from a Sunday spent in a large hole in the ground somewhere in the depths of the Peak District with Ben and Becky......
Title Image
While You Were Seeping
I had a very pleasant afternoon with Ben L and his girlfriend Becky down a Giant Hole for a bit of daytime lp. We parked up and paid our £3 to the gatekeeper (farmer) and made our way to the entrance of the underground system.
This place was fantastic and following the path of the river as it found it's way through chambers of varying sizes was magical.
Especially here where a waterfall had appeared in the middle of a wall. You don't see that every day.
Here Becky stood rock solid in the freezing water whilst Ben kindly back lit her for 10 seconds. Becky held the pose for a further 5 seconds to expose the waterfall in front of her.
Sweet Dreams
The second and final shot from yesterday's jaunt down a hole in the ground with Becky and Ben.
I had my old water gun tank with me as I love the effect of heat it gives off. I knew it would work well as a back light using a contrasting blue to lift the foreground shadows. I'm a sucker for the gradients of colour it creates using this technique between the two.
We did a few test shots to work out exposure times then once happy we cracked on. Ben back lit Becky with the orange whilst I lit the foreground in blue. Next I replaced the lens cap, Ben came behind the camera and I placed the first flare close to where Becky's hand was. Ben took off the cap and I worked gradually back to the camera, popping little starbursts of magic as I went, trying to avoid placing them over Becky's figure for a less cluttered look.
Considering the terrain and all the crazy contours I think we did a good job of filling the frame. Cheers to Ben for his help and to Becky for standing so still, barefoot in the freezing stream which is running through the scene.
It was a pleasure to meet them both and I'm already planning my next visit. I spotted numerous crazy rock formations which need lighting up and another chamber which was almost Cathedral like in stature and form.
I hope you enjoyed these two as much as we did creating them and if they raise any questions of techniques used please feel free to ask.
Both shots created during a single long exposure using the following gear...
Sony A7ii
Nikon 20mm f1.8G
Manfrotto Tripod
BLF Q8 torch
Coast Multicolour torch
Until my next adventure
Happy days
For more examples of innovative and original lightpainting including camera rotation photography, check these lightpainters: @fastchrisuk @dawnoner @mafufuma @oddballgraphics @martbarras @stefan.stepko @rod.evans.visual @yo-hoho @maxpateau These chaps are amongst the best there is!
Give our Hive Community Lightpainters United a follow and you will be introduced into the world of light painting.
Really gorgeous mate.