Master of many mediums and never one to shy away from something experimental, Quang Ho letting his light shine with a few strokes of a flashlight.
Light Paintings with Quang Ho
Painting with a Flashlight on a Stick
A chilly round 2 of light paintings in Morrow, Ohio with Quang Ho, one of my all time favorite artists and humans.
For this series of images Quang attached the flashlight to the tip of a 8 foot fallen tree branch which allowed him to view the motions of his strokes from a distance. Generally the flashlight is held by hand. Also this was the first time he's attempted this technique and his 2nd try at light painting.
Over the years I’ve been lucky to watch him work his magic with numerous mediums. And still to this day his range of subjects and styles has yet to lose its essence of surprise. Whether it be on canvas, or with a stick and a flashlight, this guy knows his craft.
Check out more of his work here - QuangHo.com
Light Painting and Portraits with Shantell Martin
Always a pleasure having pal and super talented artist @shantell_martin in town for a few days. We talked about art and commerce, broke bread and chugged weak tea. She even inspired me to take a few swings with a flashlight during a long exposure collaboration. Good times with good people. Be sure to check her channel out on youtube as well!
Shantell asking important questions.
Shantell Martin Light Paintings
Painting with light is far more difficult than one may perceive. Even for the most innately gifted of artists it can prove to be a challenge.
I had the opportunity of working with @shantell_martin recently. So of course I had to ask to her to try her hand at experimenting with the technique. Without hesitation she was in.
Having never attempted this before, it wasn’t more than a couple frames before she had it figured out. Not to mention; we made it work at a not so ideal park in lower downtown and a nearby dark alley.
Billygoating in the San Juan Mountains
Back in September I went for a semi-sketchy bushwhacking adventure on Red Mountain Pass to get this perspective of the infamous Million Dollar Highway. I learned that granite boulder mine tailings are far from an ideal place to stand, let alone set up a tripod. After some sliding, falling around, and a few surprise moonwalk descents down the crumbling hillside I ended up with a couple stable shots after almost 3 hours of self induced antics. Sometimes you strike out and sometimes you strike gold.
Light Painting with Quang Ho
Artist, friend, mentor, and brother from another mother, Quang Ho and his family have had a huge influence on my life and artistic path from a young age.
Amidst a holiday dinner and with the aid of a quality single barrel scotch I was able to convince him to step outside and paint with a flashlight for a portrait idea I had in mind for him.
I ran these exposures manually from around 20 seconds to a minute long, depending on the duration needing to complete the light painting. Incredible watching him blindly scribe the area with a basic flashlight to create these forms almost effortlessly.
Good fun and quite an honor collaborating with the humble master.
Adventures in Infrared
Revisiting my love/ hate relationship with infrared glass filters; a technique which relies on a lot of patience, a little luck, and tends to be a bit of a guessing game to dial in the exposure correctly. Hit or miss, the results have always fascinated me.
The image above was a 3 minute exposure overlooking the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado.
Moonrise Over Arapahoe Basin
One of my favorite drives is Colorado Hwy 6. Currently it’s the highest highway in North America sitting at an elevation of 12,800 ft. It’s also the fault line of the Continental Divide.
I was lucky with this 6 minute exposure having two cars pass in opposite directions just minutes before the moon crested the horizon. Which would create a nasty lens flare and blown out the image.
Fire & Ice on the Continental Divide
Winter is finally in full swing here in Colorado. This was a double exposure (2- 30 second exposures overlayed in camera) from the big bend atop Loveland Pass near Arapahoe Basin.
Stars & Stripes
The lighting at Lake Powell always seems to unfold some hidden magic. This was a long exposure of a houseboat slowly illuminating the walls of Iceberg Canyon while it passed by our camp. Wishing you all a safe luminous upcoming holiday weekend!
Exposures from Powell
Back in June I made this image with long time friends the Tuffeild family at Lake Powell in Utah. I wouldn't consider myself a family portrait photographer, and you can't really go wrong with any shot taken from this place. Truth is; I feel it's important to break the mold every so often and work with new subjects... within any creative field for that matter. In some cases, curiosity keeps you healthy. Thanks again Tom, Mel, Gwenny, and Bubbs for playing along!
One more image from the trip...Star trail images have always fascinated me and Lake Powell is such a surreal location for long exposure techniques. I had the shutter open for 2 hours here.
