Continuing on from yesterday’s posting of Inspirational Landscape Photographers, here’s my list of some of the Night Photographers and Light Painters that have inspired me.
- Tim Simmons
- Lichfaktor
- Michael Bosanko
- Gary Stubelick
- Dean Chamberlin
- Troy Paiva
- Eric Curry
- Russian HDR Guy
Tim Simmons
Tim Simmons first got me into light painting. When I saw his landscape images I was mesmerised and set myself on a mission to work out how he got the quality of light that he did. I came across some behind-the-scenes shots that showed him tying fluorescent light tubes behind trees, and rigs that involved generators and lots of extension cables. That seemed like too much work for me, but it did start me down the track of using high powered fluoro lights for my light painting. Check out some of his Norwegian images and also his images from Northumberland… they are really out of this world!
Lichfaktor
OK, Not really a single photographer, but a group of very talented light painters that have formed a commercial production company. They fall into the category that I would call “creative light painters” as opposed to “landscape light painters” like Tim Simmons. They draw, paint, and use other techniques to create incredible imagery. What I find particularly amazing about the work of Lichfaktor is the quality of their light stylus. These aren’t crude torches, but some pretty cleverly designed modifiers that sit over their light sources to create incredibly textured light with all of the refinement of beautiful caligraphy. Still trying to work out exactly what they use to create some of their beautiful light paintings. Check out this commercial they made for a taste of their work.
Michael Bosanko
Somewhat similar to Lichfaktor, Michael Bosanko does a lot of drawing and animation in his scenes using light. Check out this short video for a bit of a preview of what he does.
Gary Stubelick
Gary is a Boston-based artist. His work has a definite unique style about it. It’s pretty cool and certainly creates a stunning effect.
Dean Chamberlin
Dean’s work is incredible…. If I had to pick one word to describe it I would say “Trippy”…. almost psychodelic! Dean does some incredible masterpieces of sites that he has light painted, and he also combines light painting with portraiture which is pretty interesting.
Troy Paiva
Troy is very well known for really combining the use of coloured gels with old cars. His work is quite exceptional. A lot of people have copied Troy’s work, but really Troy pioneered this form of light painting and really made it his own.
Eric Curry
http://www.americanprideandpassion.com
I’ve had a few conversations with Eric about his technique. Eric and I essentially use the same light painting techniques, however the big difference is the order of magnitude. I might use 3 or 4 images that I composite together to create my finished images, however it’s not unheard of for Eric to make up his final images from 100 separate images that he has captured of a scene. Talk about painstaking work!!! His images are really amazing, I would encourage you to go to his site to check them out. Here is one of Eric’s videos showing exactly how he does his work. He shares many more tutorials on his site.
Russian Night HDR Guy
I don’t know what else to call this photographer as his web site is totally in Russian and I can’t read it. However check this guy out, he does the most amazing HDR night photography. It’s quite incredible what he captures in night scenes.
So these are some of the Light Painters and Night Photographers that I find inspirational. I’d love to hear from you…
Who are your favorite Night photographers?
Who inspires you?
Please post a comment on this blog-post with your favorites.
My next list will cover some of the portrait photographers and light painters that blow me away.
Stay tuned.
Brent