One area of photography that I haven't done for a long time is camera rotation.
My good friend @fastchrisuk is extremely good at this and my inspiration for these kind of shots (Well worth a follow if you aren't already).
If you aren't aware the shots are taken on a gimble, which I have, or a specific camera rotation device that Chris has, that allows you to expose for an image, lets say 2 seconds, cover the lens, rotate the whole camera maybe 45 or 90 degrees, expose another 2 seconds, rotate again, expose and rotate... until you have created a more abstract view of your surroundings in one complete exposure. So that said the images below are taken in 1 photographic exposure, and apart from a little cropping are NOT Photoshop creations.
While the nights are clear and cold, and not waiting till late for it to get dark, myself and Chris ventured out to Sheffield last night. I already had one shot in mind which was the first I took and probably my favourite of the night, The Light cinema.
I've Seen the Light!
The cinema is situated on a corner in Sheffield, which traffic going in front and the The Light sign in the top corner of the building. I nipped into a restaurant called the Furnace opposite and asked if I could shoot from their balcony area overlooking the street which they kindly obliged. I then isolated the sign in my shot, centred the sign in my viewfinder and manually (Guessed) 8 equally spaced exposures. The first shot was identical to this, just a little lighter so I closed my aperture and got this as my second shot of the night.
Lit in the Furnace
The Furnace admittedly looked a very nice bar and restaurant but had a lovely sign outside which if I stood back I could get both theirs and The Light in the same shot. I had the idea of showing them the image in the hope they would commission a large print of my shot to hang above their bar, but nah, I didn't even try. I liked this image though as it includes the hand rail to the stars I was stood at which when rotated created a nice frame.
Cafe Nero
Admittedly this shot was rushed as I heard some Yoofs shouting behind me and I wanted to move on before I got asked to take their picture! But I quickly setup outside Cafe Nero and rotated the doorway and sign. The image was a little over exposed so this has been edited and darkened a little with curves.
Neon Light Express
I'm not a fan so much of this image, again it was rushed, but I wanted to attempt this just because of the amount of neon light on the shop front. But once rotated the parallel lines make me think of crime scene tape on a police procedural drama / graphic. Sometimes its worth showing what didn't work too.
The Pink Flamingo
My final shot was taken through a window into a small room opposite the Cheese Grater carpark. It was the last stop of the night as I was losing the feeling in the end of my fingers. But the what looked to be abandoned room with floor to ceiling windows was light by a Pink Neon Flamingo, and it just gave off a scifi film noir vibe! With the single lit long hanging light it just spoke to me
I took many shots of this, rotated a few, which I didn't like, but loved this as a straight shot. I feel that Deckard from Blade Runner wouldn't look amiss standing in this room.
As a photographer I try to mix what I do in my shots, I've done still life, some macro work, lightpainting and I enjoy a good model shoot. If you'd like to check out any of my other work I'm on Facebook, or you can find me on Instagram under neilru75
For more great Light Art Photography, Light Painting and inspiration check these light painters: @fastchrisuk @marlasinger666 @fadetoblack @dawnoner @oddballgraphics @martbarras @stepko @rod.evans.visual @yo-hoho @maxpateau @gunnarheilmann @maximepateau @ryuslightworks @lightstabeu
Thanks very much for looking
Kind Regards, Neil
Looks like a very creative city walk to me. ;-) Great photos!