light painting adventures

about a month ago i ate a happy meal.  

it came with a light sabre.  

(and fresh cherry tomatoes and pineapple, i might add - go france!)

i am going somewhere with this, i promise.

i could have given the toy to the nearest kid in the restaurant, as per usual - but this one i had to keep.  light sabres are excellent for light painting.  

in case you don't know it, light painting is done in darkness, by keeping the camera shutter open for lengthy periods of time.  (on a tripod)  it's challenging and magical, to create something we can't see.

there are loads of great tutorials and inspiration on flickr - my fave artists are tcb & tdub303.

i've experimented before with sparklers and using flash, but this was the first time with a pen-type object.  i played for about an hour, and believe me, many were just disasterous.  

i'm content with these. 

i did try to do different words - like glow, dance, shine...  but they weren't legible.  can you read this?

it was fun to play. but love is the one word that was clear enough...

and just playing in photoshop today i did this - have been thinking about this sentiment lately...

i hope you're having a nice weekend! and let me know if you have ever or do play with lights :)