Light painting portraits

Hey there – your picture caught my eye! This is very striking but there's a few points that would make it perfect. You are probably aware of that, but here they are:

The main issue for me was the crooked horizon. It just makes the overall picture look unbalanced. Secondly, the light is too bright compared to the rest. The trick here is is either to use less steel wool or spin for a less about of time. Thirdly, the movement is a bit off as it looks as if you're not keeping the same angle towards the whole spinning duration.

Thanks – I can't wait to see what you'll come up with in the next contest!

Hey – nice tree! Now you'll have to tell me how you've been able to walk around your subject in such a confined space :) I like the simplicity of this picture and the fact that you worked in a tunnel brings a logical centered image with a natural vignette. I can maybe suggest to use brighter clothing on the subject to make it more visible (like the shoes are), and to make a more even movement with the light – I know it's not easy!

Hey, that's an explosive one. You got a very unique shot here! I'm not sure how you managed to keep the subject not too soft, despite him sitting on a hanging chair.

There's a very cool outline work with the guitar and the chair – that really adds a lot of pop! I would maybe try to do it in a blue/purpleish colour to contrast more with the fire light of the background.

Congrats for your top 10 spot in this contest! See you around.

What an incredible mood you created here! I'm always hesitant to use green in my light-painting pictures so that's probably why I'm so impressed when I see a striking one like this. When viewed in full screen, this picture really reveals all of its awesomeness. I like the fact that it's very crisp on the walls and then soft and smooth in the center around your subject. And it only 30 seconds to create it?! That is fast... congratulations!

Hey – nice use of the pixelstick! I did a few ones using that same flame bmp a while ago, but yours looks much better than mine (it's less pixelated). Did you use both diffusers? Nice use of the location, with an extremely well composed image and movie-like scenery. And your model has been able to stay quite still despite the long exposure. A bonus point for keeping the movement smooth despite having to walk the stairs! Congratulations on your awesome work and keep up the light-painting!

This is one of the best from this contest! There's a very cool flow of light and overall composition, and what made you want to play with cards?! What I enjoy the most in this kind of shot is the fact that the light trace fits with the rest of the frame, as the floor and the cards reflects the pattern. It looks like you also used a second source of light, but one that was not too powerful, which is great. Congratulations for your awesome work, and see you around in another contest...

This is by far my favourite from this contest. This is mysterious and a very uncommon shape in the light-painting world. It seems like you've achieved something unique and I'd even like to try it myself. The square ratio of your image seems to have perfectly framed your subject. The subtle highlights on the shoulders are spot on. This made me wonder if you've made the perfect tracing. Congratulations on your outstanding work, and good luck in the upcoming contests.

Nice contrast between a luxury car and an old train. The light on the car looks very nice but the light trace on top looks a bit hesitant – however, that's nice if this is what you intended to do.

I'm wondering why there is a shadow on the train caused by that light. That is usually when the clarity slider is used too much on the right side, but I'm not sure. Anyway, my eye was stuck on that shadow, but I like the overall image you created.

This is the top abstract picture for the contest! Congrats. I've been doing light-painting for 4 years now, and I have no idea how you did this! You have a perfect mix of shapes and complementary colours on a beautiful composed overall image. The blues look a bit burned, but it might be my monitor. I'm really confused about how you got the transition between the 2 colours Congratulations for your exceptional work and see your around on the interwebs :)

Nice landscape! I'm not sure what your intention was for the light-painting, but I would suggest that your model moves around a bit to both the left and to the right to avoid their legs being visible. Also, it looks like there is a white cast right over the rocks. This is usually caused by the clarity and/or shadow slider in Photoshop/Lightroom. Try to keep it a bit lower to avoid this. Super cool location though! That must have been a fun night :)

This is a cool start. We can even see part of the milky way!

I would suggest trying to balance the colour a bit more. One way to do this, if you want to do it in camera, is to set to proper white balance and to find a colour for your light that matches the whole scene. You can use some colored gels to find out which works the best.

Also, you can try to draw your shapes over your head so you don't block the light.

Hey, nice shape! More of this please :) I would suggest to maybe try this outdoors where you'll add some context to your light shapes. I read about your DIY solution. I have the same issues with the battery pack. I ended up using a small bank that I can hold in the same hand as the light saber, then I can still trigger with my left hand. It's not the easiest to do, but oh well.. :) You can have a look at the visual pois or the pixel stick for "easier to handle" solutions, but they are obvisouly much more expensive...

See you around! :)

Nice one! I would suggest not going too strong with the clarity and/or shadow slider in Photoshop/Lightroom. That is what has created a white halo around the trees. Also, try to change your white balance to a colder temperature (try thungsten if you have that setting), that will give you a beautiful blue night sky. For the light-painting itself, it's very cool, but I think your overall composition would have been better if you would have put your subject more on the right side of the picture. Good luck on your next Photocrowd contests!

He he he! I really like the idea! I would have never guessed about the slinky without your detailed explanation! This infinite tunnel brings us to a place we probably don't want to be!

How did you end up adding the colour? I really like the mix of purple and white. I think you're opening the door for a lot of possibilities. Mixing light-painting and mirrors is very cool...

Great work, I'm glad I get to see it. Good luck on your next contests on Photocrowd.

Nice mysterious movements :) Now i'm not sure how you lit up the face