Last October my wife and I did a sightseeing trip to Binalong and Boorowa in Southern Tablelands in NSW. Binalong is a sleepy village in a 37 km north-west of Yass. We stopped for a coffee at Binalong general store and asked about old and abandoned farmhouses. Lady at the counter pointerd to an old man, who was so kind to explain everything and moreover to get a ride with us, to show us all old farmhouses nearby and to get all permissions, as everything were situated on private lands.
I had clear thoughts of what I want – I wanted a lightpainting session in a rural area. I prefer to use a powerful torch outdoors instead of a flash. Please, don’t understand me wrong – flash is a great tool and some times it’s the only way to get a picture. But flash gives more predictable and more even light than a torch. Lightpainted picture is unique as it’s impossible to highlight something in the same way using a torch. You are a painter but with a torch instead of a brush and light instead of a palette colors. All you need is a camera with bulb mode (or at least 30 sec shutter speed), tripod, cable release or remote control and a torch. I was using a $15 torch from a general store. I waited for about 40 or 60 minutes after sunset and made a series of shots at ISO200, f8, 30 sec, Daylight WB and long exposure noise reduction function turned on. During taking picture I was constantly moving the light beam over the house, grass and fireplace. I tried to highlight the house from different angles, highlight rooms inside the house. With LCD on digital camera I was able to check results straight away and make necessary changes.
Famous sports photographer Dave Black has written a few fantastic articles with step-by-step instructions for lightpainting. I also can recommend to watch his great lightpainting video tutorial at Sports Shooter.
More images: Gallery of Regional New South Wales Stock Images – Australia Stock Photography.
by Ilya Genkin
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