Rocket X Light Painting
[Dennis Le Prevost on Rocket X, Paul Thomson photography]
I have a keen interest in creative photography as well as my love of all things related to motorbikes. Although I would personally describe myself as a bit of a novice when it comes to using the more sophisticated camera settings. I started to investigate light-painting techniques after watching a T.V. programme in which a photographer was demonstrating freehand painting of objects with lights. So I decided to get in contact with a friend Paul Thomson, who has done some light-painting and I asked him if he would like to experiment with a motorcycle portrait, which he agreed to do.
We arranged to meet at a remote location here in Guernsey where light pollution would not be too much of a problem. He also invited a mutual friend, Scott Tostevin to come along as he owned a piece of equipment that would prove extremely useful. Scott has a PixelStick, which I had not previously heard about. A PixelStick is a device made up of 200 LEDs which allows you to make complex images with light-painting photography.
Whilst waiting for the sky to get dark enough, we experimented with various techniques. I had expected to take multiple images which would later be combined in Photoshop as a composite image, however it proved possible to combine several techniques using a single exposure. The PixelStick was used to project flames behind my motorbike and we also used coloured sparklers out of shot to create an atmospheric smoke effect. A simple iPhone torch was used to freehand paint me sitting on the bike. Lastly, Paul used a portable photography lamp to create a wash of light in the foreground and to highlight the bike.
Paul was able to produce two good images; one with me on my Rocket X and and the other with just the bike. The only post-production process was the addition of Paul’s digital signature. This is a great addition to his photography portfolio.
Camera settings F6.3 - ISO 100 - Bulb
Many thanks to Paul Thomson and Scott Tostevin
