Persistence Definitely Pays Off

Last weekend was Sculpture By the Sea at Bondi. I shot it once at sunrise and once at night.


The sunrise shooting turned into a zoo as 3 camera clubs of photographers decended over the hill and started battling and jockying for position. I packed up my gear and left (I hate shooting in crowds).

Anyway when I compare that to my evening shoot... what a total contrast. I arrived at the exhibit just as the sun was setting, I scouted around as the crowds were starting to disperse, picked the sculpture I wanted to focus on and sat down on a near by chair and just stared at the sculpture thinking about the composition I wanted to create.

As the last light was fading in the sky I set up my gear, tested my lights and started a sequence of long exposures, 1 min, 2 min, 4 min.

Once I had my base image captured, then I reset my camera for60 second captures and started painting the sculpture from slightly different angles, distances, and with different amounts of feathering. I find that it can be hard to judge things like shadow sharpness using the camera LCD screen, so I find it easier to essentially "bracket" my light painting from harder directional light to more softer light (by waving the light around more).

I really liked the mood of this image. Going to go back this weeked and capture one more light painting.... I have a particular sculpture in mind for an awesome star trail shot.

I feel as though after a number of botched outings and lots of experiments, I am really starting to understand the technical fundamentals of good light painting..... at last!

BP