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Photographer creates perfect circles of fireworks and fire in the sky

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Photographer and lighting painter extraordinaire Guilhem Nicolas (a.k.a Jadikan), created this mesmerizing series of photos featuring a magical circle of fire in the sky.

Jadikan shares that the “series consists of stunning long exposure photographs created in the French Alps using drones equipped with flammable powder to create firework bursts in the night sky”. While the effect can be created in Photoshop, the interaction between the firey sparks and the landscape is very hard to create in post.

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How I light painted and photographed a flock of seagulls at night with minimal equipment

I have been light painting for a couple of years now. It is something I enjoy immensely. For me, it is a great pairing between being outdoors in nature and using photography as a creative outlet. With light painting, you can truly create anything you can imagine, and I enjoy the challenge of doing everything in a single exposure.

I wanted to try something different from the usual light painting subjects like stars and hearts. As a volunteer for animal and environmental protection who lives on the coast, I came up with the idea to use seagulls in my picture. Here, I wish to share with you how I created this image. You will see that it’s not difficult, it just requires a little patience and some trial and error.

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How I shot abstract light orbs with a 360 camera and camera rotation

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It’s been over a decade since I fell in love with the camera rotation technique. And ever since then, I’ve constantly been experimenting and honing my craft. Today, I’m presenting you with abstract orbs I took just before sunrise, using a 360-degree camera paired with camera rotation. I’ll share with you how I took them, hoping to inspire you to try this technique yourself.

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How to create a perfect, risk free light painting circle

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A few months ago, I gave a masterclass about how to create colorful portraits. One of the setups was a unique portrait with a model “trapped” inside a light-painted circle. I wanted to share how I created that portrait using a drill, a found garden hose, and a couple of KYU-6 LED lights.

You may hear me saying “don’t try this at home” a couple of times. If you do decide to defy me, please use soft materials like a garden hose and soft KYU-6 lights. (vs., say, a broomstick).

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This $20 DIY ring light isn’t the kind of ring light you think it is – it’s for light painting

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When we hear the term “ring light” in photography, one thing immediately springs to mind and it offers a very distinctive look. But there is also another type, which isn’t meant to wrap around your lens to create that “shadowless” (which isn’t really) beam of fill light coming directly from your camera, and that’s what Pye Jirsa shows us how to make in this video.

It’s an interesting idea, basically wrapping a string of lights around a ring to create a unique look. And sure, while you could potentially try to use it like a traditional ring light, it won’t do much good, as those little LEDs aren’t going to light a subject very well from any kind of distance. But for light painting? Well, that’s where it really shines.

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Spinning Time in Las Vegas shows Vegas as we’ve never seen it before

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Have you ever been to Vegas? I’ve never visited the US, so the first thought of Vegas photos are those flashy, colorful images of its many lights and neon signs.

Photographer Jason D. Page managed to capture Vegas as I’ve never seen it before and as I’ve never imagined it. In his photo series Spinning Time in Las Vegas, Jason photographed Sin City in a way that will make your head spin!

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This Basics Guide is everything you need to know to get started with light painting

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Light painting has increased massively in popularity over the last few years. It’s not really surprising. Gone are the days of film where you had no idea whether you’d got the shot or not until hours or days later. The instant feedback of digital and zero extra cost of shooting a thousand photos rather than one has made its popularity pretty inevitable as more people have acquired DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.

But if you’ve never done it before, or you’ve had a go but didn’t get results even close to what you hoped for, it can be difficult to figure out exactly what you did wrong and what information you’re missing. Well, this video, the first in a series, from photographer Susan Magnano will help explain it to you. In it, she goes over the terms, techniques and tools you need to get started.

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Use stencils like this photographer to create original light painted fine art photography

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The world of light painting is infinite it seems. It can involve anything from sweeping epic landscapes with light painted buildings, right down to macro shots done indoors. One artist has developed a fascinating technique of using stencils to create her beautiful images.

Brazilian photographer and multimedia artist Juliana Lauletta has been using this stencil technique for years, honing it into a fine craft. She spoke to DIYP about where she gets her inspiration, and generously shares her tips for making your own light-painted artwork.

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These fiery yoga photos were light-painted in camera in real time

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When you see photos of people doing yoga, they usually radiate peace and calmness… Or at least try to. But light painter and photographer Jason D. Page has decided to do something different – and I absolutely love it! So, I reached out to Jason to hear more about this project.

Jason teamed up with yoga instructor Gina Buse and the duo created a set of yoga photos that are completely out of the box. They’re fierce and powerful, and it’s exactly what you need to be to pull off many of the yoga poses. And in Jason’s recognizable fashion – he shot them as single, in-camera photos.

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I lit a whole castle with a small wearable LED light

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Yes, you read the title correctly. Well, almost. If I’m being completely honest actually I used four small wearable LED lights, and admittedly it was a fairly small castle. But you’d be surprised how little light you need with modern mirrorless cameras, a long exposure and a fairly high ISO. These little LED lights really can pack a punch in certain situations (mainly in complete darkness!).

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Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

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