Candle Magic
ISO 100 27mm f/11 12sec
I love switching things up and trying new things. I was stuck in the studio (design) today working on some flyers for the annual charity Gala we have coming up, so I didn’t get a chance to go on a photo walk like I normally would. Which gave me a perfect excuse to get creative tonight and experiment with light painting/drawing. I’ve been wanting to give this a whirl (pun intended) for a bit now, but just haven’t taken the time to do so. Its refreshing to bounce from searching for something beautiful and creative to then going and creating something creatively beautiful. The great thing about these types of photos is you have no clue how its going to turn out when your creating it. So theres already elements of curiosity, wonder, and surprise when your painting with the light.
To me this photo looks so magical, like something straight out of a disney movie. Its almost as if the candle is changing into something, like it has a secret night life and disguises itself as a candle during the day. Which raises the question.. what would a candle be if it could choose to not be a candle.. hmm. Maybe a fire extinguisher, that would be ironic.
Love it! Aren’t you glad to spend a day inside? Nice to meet you BTW
Brenda/abostonbean.com
Hey Brenda! I am glad I spent the day inside. I got a ton accomplished and it let to this great photo! However I don’t typically like being cooped up. My studio only has one window, and I like to explore the beauties of the world 😉
loved it 🙂
Thank you!
Wow! I had the feeling Christmas was back!
I know right! That was my initial response as well haha. Thanks Ingrid
Clever, I love the light in the background, very supernatural!
Thanks Mandy! The cool thing was this was a shot I thought I ruined. The light in the background is from my arm being in the expose because I was hand holding the maglight. When I looked at the back of the camera I was like Aw great my arm ruined it. But then I got it into lightroom and was like ow wow my arm made it haha. Thanks
Wow fantastic. What a great shot
Thanks again Filipe!
Looks like a Christmas pudding having a moment!
Haha, Im not quite sure how to respond to that lol. Thanks for your thoughts Leslie!
Nicely done Nick! Love the background and well exposed candle ..
And sometimes it does pay to stay indoors and do something different.. one might be positively surprised 🙂
Hey thanks 🙂 I completely agree. Its refreshing to switch things up a bit!
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful! I attended a seminar which taught this technique, but I have never tried it yet (well, other than with sparklers outside at night which I guess is the same type of thing). What did you use for a light source? A flashlight maybe?
Hey Cindy, yea its a fun thing to play around with. I used a maglight. And heres a cool tip if you unscrew the cap you have just the bulb exposed and it paints the light onto your subject as your draw your lines. You could also use an led bulb thats exposed to get the same effect. But the beauty of it all is you can use really any light source and get totally different beautiful results 🙂
Have you ever tried it with different coloured bulbs. That’s what they did at the seminar I went to. It was amazing!
No I haven’t. Sounds like fun. I just used what I had but I look forward with getting creative with other lights and multiple colors! Thanks
Love it! Fantastic work. 🙂
Thanks Inga!
thats really awesome…:)
Thanks I appreciate that!
This is magical! Thank you for sharing!
Hey Irene! Thank you for sharing you thoughts!
Nice shot, and thanks for checking out my work.
Your welcome Don! Thank you!
nicely done Nick, I love it.
Thanks Polly!
Nice job.. Love it
Thanks!
That is awesome!
Thanks Miles!
Niiiiiiice!!!
Thhhaaaankkss!!! 😉
Perfect exposure and great red tonalities!
Thanks Pablo!
Awesome!! Do you think the candle might want to be a moth, free to fly in circles, but smart enough to not get too close???:D
Shez, I can totally see that 🙂 Thanks for your creativity
Hi Nick,
Thanks for dropping by on my own site. I’ve had a good look at your own and I particularly like the ‘Candle Magic’ image. Thanks for sharing. Not easy to capture a good photograph of this type – frequently it’s all about trial and error. I’ve just today opened a new site to host my own photo’s at http://wildcatchphotography.zenfolio.com please take a look and tell me what you think.
Best regards
Carl
Hey Carl! Thanks for stoping by and leaving such kind words! I did check out your site and love your wildlife photography. Heres a fun fact for ya, I just moved back from a town called Norfolk here in the states. haha We had wonderful wildlife out there as well.
Fantastic Work. Would love to get your impressions on mine as we go along the year together, and thank you for following my fledgling blog. This light painting is truly stunning.
Thanks so much! I’ve checked out your work and enjoy your unique measure twice cut once approach to photography. Your like a trained sniper with a camera. I look forward to seeing your photography improve through your discipline throughout the year!
Thanks Nick! Your encouragement means a lot.
Your welcome 🙂
This is an awesome picture. I’ll always wanted to get more into light photography — great job!
Thanks a lot! All’s I can tell ya is do it, its a ton of fun!
Nick – love your site – great photos and thoughts. Thanks for stopping by mine today. Look forward to seeing more of your work.
Thanks Debbie. I appreciate your kind words!
Thanks for stopping by to ‘like’ my blog! I’m enjoying looking through yours — great work!!
Your welcome! And thank you!
What a fantastic photo, Nick. Always nice to visit your blog.
Thanks Brian! Im glad you feel that way 🙂
What a stunning image!
Thanks alot!
One of the things I’ve been meaning to try. Looks neat.
Its so much fun, and there is so much you can do with it with all the different sources of light we can get now days. Thanks for swinging by and leaving your thoughts 🙂
I love the hazy crystal-like background. Very creative!
Thank you! 🙂
What a cool shot! Love the effect!
Hey thanks 🙂
Reblogged this on i want great things and commented:
i love this image so much i had to reblog! awesome work!
Hey thanks for the reblog Feebs! I truly appreciate it!
Beautiful, so beautiful candle magic. I loved it. Thank you, with my love, nia
Thanks for your thoughts 🙂
Brilliant shot! Only tried something similar once and probably only got 3 decent shots out of a serious of about 30. Well done!
Yea its kind of a hit or miss process, but very fun along the way. Thanks again!
Nick, a truly amazing image!
I love how your happy accident of seeing your arm in the exposure led to a perfect backdrop for the light trails. (thanks for sharing that info by the way)
I haven’t posted a comment here before but I read every post and I’m inspired by your images and your story telling.
Have a great weekend!
Howard
Thanks Howard!! I appreciate your kind words, and the fact that you’ve explored every post 🙂
Awesome! glad you stayed in and created the candle spiral for us all! thanks for liking my blog too 🙂
I agree the indoor results turned out well 🙂
This is magic! I know there is some kind of technique involved, but even so, this has a magical quality to it that I really like. Beautiful result!
Thanks Judee!! I agree 🙂
NICE!
Thanks Mona!! Simple but effective response 🙂
I tried to duplicate this (or a close proximity) this evening but came nowhere close. I will keep trying & let you know if I can do it. You are an excellent photographer!
Thanks Mona, I appreciate your kind words! Keep shooting and you’ll create your own excellence with this technique 🙂
Incredible!
Thanks so much Dianna!
Reblogged this on FilipinoFestival.com.
Thanks for sharing!
Cooool!!
Thanks 🙂
nice exploration of light.
Thanks Micah! It was a fun exploration!
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