as a young child, i remember a period when we didn't have electricity at home. we cooked using kerosene stove or wood. for lighting we used kerosene lamp, the makeshift ones that our father had improvised out of empty coffee jars and pieces of used t-shirts.
at seven i started to read "gone with the wind" underneath the covers using candlestick that i hid in my shorts along with the little box of matches and i had to explain to my mother how i got holes in my sheet. of course that habit quickly stopped when one of the houses down the street burned to the ground because someone fell asleep and left a candle on, the cat knocked it onto a sleeping mat. nobody got hurt but a family was left homeless.
sometimes there would be a gasoline crisis and we'd have no light at night. the only neighbour who had electricity would let us do our homework outside their door after supper and we had to be quick because they didn't want to run up their electricity bills.
so, i am thankful for electricity and lights. when i'm home, i have all lights turned on. why? because i want to. and i can.
@abhijit - ab, i would like to dedicate this to you but i won't because i think it's crappy! it's not epic fail but a major fail, which is just a tad below epic fail. so, kiddo, spill how you did it, please. and thank you.
@summerfield I disagree. I think it's really cool. Like a Totem pole. There's good control if light, good exposure and good sharpness.
As to my shot, it was fairly simple. Fairly small aperture, around 25-30 seconds of exposure. I manually focussed on the light before taking the shot, left it on around the place I was going to paint. In the most recent shot, I used a glass pot (Ikea) and swirled lights inside it and out. The easiest light paintings I have done.
This is fun! I love your point too. Right now with a lot of the people still out of power from the hurricane. They just had a fresh reminder how life is harder without power.
I lOved power outages when I was a child because we would play board games and visit by the kerosene lights. I read by lantern but never with a candle in bed. Glad you survived that!
Goodness your childhood does sound rather harsh, don't mean that in a negative way, just tough.
You are being hard on yourself with this shot but then you set your own standards. I like very much, has a kaleidoscope feeling
@abhijit - you really think so? i still think i suck at light art. dawned on me i couldn't even draw a simple star or flower, can't even write a readable word. hahaha! but if you say so, then i'll cross this off my bucket list. after all, the king of light art and night shots says so! :-) thank you so much, ab. and thank you for being there for us. you are a good man, my friend.
@pandorasecho - i hear you, dixie. i know i sounded a little bit pompous with my last line, but i still stand by it. mine is a small apartment and i use those new energy saving bulbs and pay the small fee to dispose of them when i have to. i recycle 90% of the time even before the movement began. when we observe the earth hour every year, all lights are turned off, everything electronic is turned off, except for the fridge, for one full hour, and i recall how hard it was when we were growing up in the city in what was then called a backward country (now they use 'third world' to be politically correct). i've not experienced a long power outage here except once in 2004 when the eastern states and ontario had that 24-hour outage. it was tough, being in the middle of summer, too. so thank heavens for lights.
@claireuk - very harsh, yet it honed me in a good way, wanted to work as soon as legally able, full load in college at night, full time work during the day, sent three siblings to college, raised a son on my own; changed my perspective in life from those in the same predicament as i was. life is good, and sometimes there's a bit of vino. are you now done with you vino diet? thank you, claire.
@summerfield you flatter me :)
I honestly think this is really good. Every time I look at it I see a Native American totem pole. The red in the middle is like a rudimentary head :)
having given light painting a try, i believe you are being quite harsh in your self evaluation. this shot is so interesting to view and for a beginning, you did a great job. mine just looked like squibbles, no shape at all. your's has substance. i completely agree - totem pole. lovely.
@summerfield Ah vino! Well......................I am back to having a drink here and there, keeping it down to a minimum though. I go to the gym early, about 6:30am and if I have had wine I really feel it:0) I now try (being successful too) to not drink in the house and only with a meal when out. Weight is coming off, albeit slowly but hey rome wasn't lost in a day;0) thank you for asking
This is neither an epic or major fail. It's very good!! A light-filled totem pole is what I see! I cannot do light pictures well with my camera because it does not allow me to keep the shutter open long enough. But I might buy some film and do some with the old 35mm which I can set on "bulb" and keep open as long as I want. Great shot!!
As to my shot, it was fairly simple. Fairly small aperture, around 25-30 seconds of exposure. I manually focussed on the light before taking the shot, left it on around the place I was going to paint. In the most recent shot, I used a glass pot (Ikea) and swirled lights inside it and out. The easiest light paintings I have done.
I lOved power outages when I was a child because we would play board games and visit by the kerosene lights. I read by lantern but never with a candle in bed. Glad you survived that!
You are being hard on yourself with this shot but then you set your own standards. I like very much, has a kaleidoscope feeling
I honestly think this is really good. Every time I look at it I see a Native American totem pole. The red in the middle is like a rudimentary head :)