Happy Light Painting in 2024, Everyone!

"Fleur-de-Lis" by Harold Ross

I hope everyone has a fruitful and terrific 2024. I'm not sure about you, but I am amazed at how quickly 2023 went by! The Holidays and New Year's celebrations kept us busy, but we are back at work now, and excited to see what this year brings! 

Initially, the process of creating a still-life image may seem like a confined and rigid approach to creating photographic images.

While the technical elements that we must adhere to for producing a technically "good" image may seem somewhat inflexible, I feel that it is a very imaginative and creative process in terms of composition and content. One could even argue that it is a process of inventive construction.

In my studio, I typically start by gathering subjects that interest me and that I believe would complement each other, but I generally don't have a preconceived idea in mind. I've discovered that simply by working with these subjects, a composition eventually emerges. I must admit that this is one of the most satisfying aspects of creating still life images! While many people may not believe that producing a still life image is spontaneous, I believe that it is entirely so! Of course, one must be open to the spontaneity. 😁

The above image serves as an example of this...initially, when I started arranging the elements, I had no idea about the final outcome of this image!

Foundation Course Students:

I have great news! My Light Painting Photoshop Plug-in Panel is undergoing a major update with some incredible new features. These features will make the finalization of images much smoother and easier. Stay tuned for more information in an upcoming blog post when we announce the update!

Additionally, I'll be adding some Advanced Light Painting Videos to the website in the next few weeks, as well as a helpful PDF for Hasselblad Phocus users which will be added in a day or two.

We'll be having our second Zoom Group Meeting on January 6th, 2024 for Foundation Course Students. Our inaugural meeting in December was terrific, with some great questions and an image review! This time, I'll be giving an editing demonstration and I'll discuss a few pertinent topics. In addition, I'll be giving feedback on several student images. Of course, we will also have a question and answer session. I look forward to seeing you there! 😁