Step 1: Choosing your Technique
A technique that I will be practicing is using long exposure with a focus on light painting. This is a technique that I have used before, but the application that I will be using is vastly different. Instead of using it to create a prop as I have done in previous shoots, I am using it to enhance an existing prop. I was far from mastering this technique as I still see applications that blow my mind and seem impossible, but I will be attempting to refine it with what I have available to me. I feel that this technique has its place in advertising, making beautiful imagery that captures the eye and can make use of colour theory and composition to improve the overall image.
Test Shoot 1
My first test shoot went quite well. I was in the studio to do this first part so I could experiment with it in a familiar environment first. My camera settings were 4, f20, 200. I used a big light brick to create the light in the background and used gels to adjust the colour of the bulbs. This was done to make the bulbs green to match the drink. After this, I shot some images using different techniques, such as spinning the light around the main bottle and using the individual bulb lines to create an interesting Tron style effect. The green colour was good, but I would like to make it more neon which I will be able to do with a different light brick where I can digitally change the colour on the light instead of having to lay gel sheets on the light to alter it. It had the right effect of highlighting the main subject without taking away from it.
Test Shoot 2
My second shoot was done in various places. I did this in the hallway in my house, a dark room in the college and attempted to do one outside, but it was very rainy so the image did not come out well. I was using similar settings to the last shoot, but I decreased the shutter speed to 15 seconds and decreased the ISO to 100 to compensate for it. I experimented with creating shapes with my light to practice accuracy and control. This also helped me get a grip on how much time it would take for the shutter to go off. I found that doing the Star of David produced the most effective challenge. It helped me create straight lines, while also needing accuracy with combining the two separate shapes. I will continue to use this pattern to experiment with because it combines all elements of good light painting in a fairly standard way.
Test Shoot 3
For this shoot, I decided to stick with using that Star of David. I used some stickers on the door to mark points in which I wanted to form the star at. This helped me create consistency between my stars, which is much more apparent in this shoot compared to the last one. I further changed my settings, using a 20 second shutter with the same f20 and 200ISO from the previous shoot. This allowed me more time to create the shape. I also took off the light diffuser. This allows the bulbs to glow brighter because there is no material in the way. It also means that we can see the individual bulb, so instead of being the thick beam of light, it is instead many individual beams of light. This created some interesting looking images when combined with various different colours. Some examples of the different colours I used were RGB, the primary colours, warm light and cold light and a deep red.
I also experimented with using a lower brightness. These shots in order go from 100%, 50%, 25% then 10% brightness. As you can see, the clarity of the individual bulbs is a lot more prominent in the 50% and 25% compared to the 100%. However, the 10% is less prominent because the base colour of the background is overshadowing the light directly from the bulbs. The surroundings are also less exposed which makes it a lot easier on the eyes to look at. I will try and experiment with this in my final shoot.