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Poor Z's=Poor Sleep



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Fun light painting. The "Z's" didn't turn out nearly as well as I had wanted but it was still fun to make. ...
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Fun light painting. The "Z's" didn't turn out nearly as well as I had wanted but it was still fun to make.
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in my wonderful one-bedroom apartment. Being a self taught and financially challenged photographer, I had to use the charm of a simple bedroom instead of a fancy studio, but I think I did alright!

Time

This was taken at 9pm at night. It was summer so there was still some light bleeding in so I tried to cover up as much of our window as possible. I needed as dark as I could get for light painting and was able to achieve this!

Lighting

Obviously doing light painting requires long exposure, which requires little to no lighting at all. I wanted to make sure that my wife was illuminated in the shot so I set the exposure long enough to give me time to shine the light and paint her and then to also draw the "z's" that were above her. As I wrote the letters I would make sure to turn the flashlight off after I finished each one to give as much separation as possible. The two red streaks were occurred by turning my flashlight vertical and swiping it down. No flashes were used... because I don't own a flash yet haha!

Equipment

The camera I used was a Nikon D3300 with an 18-55 kit lens set at 35mm. I also used a cheaper manfrotto tripod that held things in place very well. Finally I used a 1 dollar flashlight that I had found at the grocery store earlier in the day. The flashlight was somewhat see through from the side which allowed for the red streaks when flipped vertically.

Inspiration

I was sitting around with my wife one night and had really wanted to try out doing more light painting. I starting practicing by myself but she wasn't fond of me turning the lights off on her. I instead managed to coax her into helping me out. I told her all she had to do was pretend to sleep and she jumped in the bed and actually went to sleep. It was already around 9 at night so I suppose that it was acceptable to do this. Fortunately she stayed still enough for this to be shot and this is what I got!

Editing

I actually didn't do that much to this photo. I set a basic filter that was found on iphoto and then brought the exposure down a smudge while slightly boosting the saturation.

In my camera bag

Being a budget photographer I am limited in what I carry but make the most of it. I of course have the Nikon D3300 body with me and appreciate how it has a nice light weight body. After this I cary my standard 55-200 kit lens. I don't shoot long distances too often but it has come in handy as I live in a place where I can go from city to mountains quickly. After this I carry a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens. This thing is great and has really allowed me to get more creative especially when doing street photography (talk about getting close!). The thing is also built really well and feels solid when using it. Last but not least I have my nifty fifty f1.8 Nikkor lens. I love working at this focal length and have been pushed to better frame my shots using this lens. Its cheap too so I would highly recommend it!

Feedback

I always thought light painting involved a special location with all these special lights and utensils but learned that all you really need is a dark space, a flashlight, and a camera! The possibilities are endless and it is a medium to really get creative and make some new and unique pieces of art that look beautiful and are fun to make. Oh yeah, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! (and I need more of it =))

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