Final Documentation

Posted by Liam on

My intention for this project was to create a light painting. In particular, I wanted to paint a tree. I studied the light artist Barry Underwood at the start of this class. He does research on his setting in order to paint an abstract that hints at its past. I like his method of alluding to an idea instead of making it obvious. Unlike Barry though, I wanted to create a natural form instead of something abstract. The concept of representing a natural form like a tree in an unnatural way inspired me to choose a setting that resonated with this theme.

The light painting process involves taking a long exposure and moving around lights to “paint” their path in the final image. Below is an image of the materials I used to make these four light paintings.

From Left to Right: glow sticks, leaf shaped light, cut color gel, bright flashlight, purple flashlight, tripod and weight bag. A Nikon D3400 camera was used for the photographs.

When thinking of ways to artistically express the work I’ve done, I thought about showing the trees I’ve created in ascending order of size. Doing so allowed my newest photographs from the last week to sandwich the older photographs I took in a four-photo series.

I did this Light Painting at Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster. The Doyles owned the first plastic factories in Leominster, which is known as the Plastic City. The land was donated to the city by an environmentalist descendant of the Doyle Family. When making the light painting here, I was thinking about the juxtaposition between polluting during daily life and feeling the need to protect the environment. The light is a bit dim but I think that works well to draw attention to the whole exposure.

The next photograph was the earliest one taken in the series.

This photograph was taken at Prospect Park, Leominster MA. I couldn’t find any info in the park or online about its history. However, it’s obvious that the small park is boxed in by the city. It’s surrounded by neighborhood roads and a commuter rail. I think the more unnatural look for the tree and brighter exposure of the light gives the feeling that this setting is further removed from nature than the last one.

These first two photos follow the less-refined strategy that I used during the first several weeks. I was more-so painting what I felt would look right instead of thinking about it too much. This process can clearly create some cool images. However, for the next two I tried to follow a more concrete process. For the image below, my intention was to have the setting more exposed. However, it still came out looking how I wanted.

This photo was taken at Wachusett Mountain State Reservation. In pre-colonial times the mountain was home to the native Nipmuc tribe. Although the mountain seems more deeply imbedded in nature than the other sites, that’s not wholly the case. The Nipmuc now live in a reservation. In the 1960s, the state decided that a ski resort built on the mountain was likely to become self sufficient. The Department of Natural Resources tried running the resort but failed. After realizing that others could run the business far better, they continued leasing it to the same family. Nowadays the resort is permanently ingrained into the identity of the mountain. This tree is more exposed than the first one, but more natural looking than the second one. When I was taking this photograph I was wondering if nature is really respected here or if it is being sacrificed for state funding.

The last photograph in the series was taken further down the trail from the first photograph.

The setting in the woods was right next to Route 2. That’s the source the red lights coming through the trees. I think it is a more successful version that the previous photograph, at least in the sense of having a background in the exposure The photograph serves the same purpose as the rest of them, which is to convey a natural form in an unnatural state.

My method for these last two trees was to keep the glow sticks horizontal for the trunk. I started from the bottom of the frame, moved to the top, then moved back down over the same path while making the branches. After that I hid the glow stick and waved the leaf light where I thought the branches were. I used my arm position relevant to my body to were things were placed in the painting. While doing so, I made sure to flicker it on and off for a more condensed looking effect.

I was always aware of the light painting technique from some popular artists on social media. The process is very interesting so I’m glad I was able to try it. I was able to produce images that I’m happy with and learn new things in the process. At the beginning of the project I was using a cheap tripod with my iPhone camera. After the first couple of test images I realized that I should upgrade my gear. Below is a photograph for reference.

The best photograph from the beginning weeks. Since it looked more like a jellyfish than a tree, I decided I needed to re-evaluate both the equipment and the plan at creating a believable tree.

I had never used a professional camera before this class. Additionally, creating a form that looks natural when you can’t see what you’re doing is harder than I thought it would be. Based on the difference in what I was able to create from the beginning to end, I think this project was a success. If I ever land my hands on a nice camera again, I would definitely try doing these light paintings again!

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