Light Paintings

These “Light Painting” portraits incorporate a unique lighting technique that produces dramatic contrasts and textures unlike any other photographic lighting method.

The portraits are created in a darkened studio, and while the subject remains motionless a beam of light from a flexible fibre optic bundle is “painted” over the surfaces of the subject and setting. The light source is often only an inch or two away from the subject, yet only the subject is recorded, not the light source.

This ability to “paint” with the light source actually in the scene yet not recorded by the camera, gives the portraits an eye-catching light quality, making them appear to “glow”. The technique is a challenging method for both subject and photographer, but yields images with a quality of light that cannot be achieved with conventional lighting techniques