Well, my apologies… it’s been a little while since my last blog post!

I’ve been super busy writing articles, making prints, and teaching workshops. Also, with the holidays coming up, I just seem to have no time!

I’ve been meaning to get this post out about a new flashlight that we’ve found to be great for light painting.

For several years, I’ve been using (and recommending) the Surefire E1L (more specifically, the E1L-HA-WH) as a good light for light painting. I still use it, and I still recommend it. That said, the Surefire is a little pricey and a little difficult to find, since Surefire has replaced the E1L-HA-WH with the E1L-A. Unfortunately, This new model has a larger bezel diameter (Which precludes it from use with our 1″ anodized aluminum adapter), a brighter LED (not always a good thing, as too short of an exposure doesn’t allow enough time to “see” the light), and is quite a bit more expensive than the prior model. For this reason, my co-instructor, John Corcoran, and I have been researching alternative lights. Fortunately, we have found a great little flashlight, the Olight M 10 Maverick.

I really like this little light, for several reasons… Firstly, the dimming control is separate from the on-off switch. This means that when you turn the light off at a certain brightness, the next time you turn it on it will be at the same brightness. The Surefire, like so many lights, always comes on at a given brightness (usually the dimmer setting), requiring you to toggle through the brightness settings to get back to where you were before. With the M10, after making an exposure, you can turn the light off, then turn it on again in a few minutes and it will be at the same brightness. I find this to be quite beneficial for light painting work. Secondly, the M10 has the latest Cree LED (the XM-L2), which is quite bright, and closer to daylight in its color balance. Third, the M10 has three brightness settings, as compared to the Surefire’s two settings. This means it is a little more versatile for light painting.  Fourth, it is nice and small, slightly smaller than the surefire, which is an advantage when doing light painting in a still life situation, where a larger flashlight gets in the way, and bumps into things! Last but not least, the M10 uses the same great battery as the Surefire, the CR123A, a battery with a 10 year shelf life!  John and I like the light so much, that we’ve decided to offer an anodized aluminum adapter in .9″, designed specifically for the M10, or any light with a .9 inch bezel. This adapter allows quick and easy fitting of the Light Diffusers I designed for light painting. To see a cool little video illustration of how it works, click HERE.
The Surefire E1L-HA-WH is still a fantastic light painting tool, and if you can find one, and you don’t mind the price, it would be on equal footing with the Olight M-10. Of course, we still make the aluminum adapter in 1“, which fits the E1L-HA-WH or any light with a 1″ bezel.
I couldn’t recommend a light without first testing it. Here is a “test” image that I shot with the Olight M10 and the .9″ adapter with diffuser, during a very recent workshop with student Will Doak:

Photograph by Harold Ross

I love to show the images that my students create during their first (in most cases) workshop with me, and I’m floored by the consistent high quality of the images that they produce in just 18 hours of instruction!

Day 1… we always spend the first evening getting acquainted, discussing light painting and its advantages, and delving into lighting theory as it applies to light painting. (I actually prefer to call it “sculpting with light”). Each student does an exercise in lighting a baseball for both shape and texture at the same time, and this can be a tricky exercise. I then shoot a demonstration image to show the process and why we can, and should, light our subjects with Photoshop blending in mind.

Of course, having been light painting for 24 years, I had to perfect the technique using film, and transparency film at that! Today we have the wonderful technology of digital capture and Photoshop. We can create images much more easily than in the old days!

Day 2… the first full day, I show how the image is put together in Photoshop using layers and masking, and the rest of the day is spent with students setting up and shooting their own images. I like to call this day “Boot Camp Day”, as in order to get the concepts across, I sometimes feel like a drill sergeant!

Day 3… FUN! It is spent in Photoshop, and students learn the nuances of masking and why I use masking differently than most. They learn to use masking to “bring in” the beautiful stuff as opposed to “getting rid” of the bad stuff, and how to do that in an aesthetically powerful way. It is really fun, to boot!

At my home studio, I have tons of props… old tools and machinery, pewter plates and tankards, vases, rocks, feathers, bones, etc., etc., etc. My co-instructor, John Corcoran and I have amassed a good collection of backgrounds… old doors, painted backgrounds, etc.

Obviously, students end up photographing some of the same props, but the combinations of subjects are quite unique! I love seeing what people come up with in terms of composition. John and I give compositional tips and help with problem solving, but for the most part, the compositions are created by the students.

John Faber, from Pennsylvania, created an image with a gorgeous color scheme. He picked out some huge oak leaves that had fallen in our front yard, and combined them with some other objects that were here. John wanted to learn about lighting shiny glass and how to deal with getting its color to come through, and did so with aplomb. Thanks to the exercise in lighting the baseball for shape and texture, he was able to use the same lighting style for the limes and oranges.

Photograph by workshop student John Faber

Lisa Cuchara, from Connecticut, was drawn to some of my industrial props. She really liked the gears and cutting wheels, all things with edges, and then added something that these objects need to survive… Oil. Lisa made this composition, which is a study of lines. Using light painting allows us to concentrate light on the edges in order to get great separation. Normally, for instance, one wouldn’t place a dark rusty object in front of another dark rusty object, but with light painting, this is no problem! Lisa originally wanted to light from the left side of the image, but for right handers, this can be difficult. One of the most important things in light painting is to get your eye directly in front of the lens in order to see just what the lens will see. This helps us make good decisions about lighting angle, movement, etc. Most people are used to being behind the camera, not out in front! Anyway, imagine leaning in from the left, while using your right hand to hold the light… not gonna work, usually. Lisa ended up lighting from the right, and she did a fantastic job.

Photograph by workshop student Lisa Cuchara

Pam Bredin, who traveled up from South Carolina, didn’t have a ton of experience with layers and masking, but soon became familiar with the techniques. I keep the Photoshop process simple. Basically, we make beautiful aesthetic choices in the lighting, and very controlled ones at that, then we use Photoshop to blend those choices together in a simple way. We all know that there are 57 ways to accomplish any one thing in the program, so I strive to keep it as straightforward as possible. Pam, like John above, worked very successfully with color in her composition. She is the first student to photograph one particular object here, a rusted steel plate that has a wonderful reddish patina. This echoes the color of the feather edge in the foreground. I’ve always loved the square format… it is a static frame, with no inherent movement, and Pam used it to very good effect.

Photograph by workshop student Pam Bredin

Ben Willmore, of “Everywhere”, USA (Ben lives in a motor home, and so the entire country is home to him), came to the workshop with a lot of experience in different kinds of light painting.  When people initially think of light painting, they think of making shapes, or drawing, with the light. This is very cool stuff, and quite engaging. One can make orbs and lots of cool things with the light. Check out some of Ben’s photographs HERE. The process I use would be more aptly described as “sculpting with light”, and is a more naturalistic approach, using light to enhance shape, dimension and texture of a subject. Ben, who has a very solid Photoshop background, was also drawn to photograph some of my industrial props, and he has a love for vintage things. He and his wife own and are currently restoring a vintage 1963 Flexible Bus, and they’ll be living in it! Ben created this very nice composition, and the end result is terrific!

Photograph by workshop student Ben Willmore

Cam Miller, from Maryland, came back for a second workshop. Cam has been working with light painting since her first workshop in January of 2013 and has seen some “light painting success” by getting into shows, selling prints and winning awards! Cam is very energetic and enthusiastic, and really took on a complex image at the workshop. Lots of lighting challenges here. This is the kind of shot that is too complicated for a group workshop, and normally requires some experience to tackle. Great job, Cam!

Photograph by workshop student Cam Miller

Bob Lott, also from Pennsylvania, is someone I’ve known for quite awhile. He had expressed interest in doing a workshop in the past, and I’m glad that he finally did so! Bob is very sharp, and came to the workshop with a good working knowledge of Photoshop, and he took to light painting quite well! I like to say: “Simple is good” when it comes to learning light painting, and Bob created a simple, yet lovely image. One of the things I love about light painting is that a very simple setup (and even a mundane one) can be very compelling if seen under the “right light”. Light painting is indeed transformational, and Bob’s photograph is a great example of that!

Photograph by workshop student Bob Lott

Adam Elstein, of Brooklyn, NY, was trained as an architect. He has a deep interest in and is quite accomplished at photographing architecture. Adam has a thorough knowledge of the subject, and so it was no surprise that the image he created is quite architectural in nature. Choosing props from my collection of industrial scrap, Adam created an interesting “cityscape” with a variety of shapes and surfaces. Using light painting to isolate and create separation, he was able to compose freely. In other words, when using light painting, we aren’t limited by an object’s brightness or color to separate it from other subjects. As in Lisa’s photograph, second in this post, Adam was able to create relief and depth where there was very little to begin with. The entire depth of his set was approximately 4″! I love making images where three dimensional objects take on a graphic feel, yet remain utterly dimensional, and I love this photograph created by Adam.

Photograph by workshop student Adam Elstein

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

If you’re interested in learning this powerful and rewarding technique, there are still spaces available in July’s session, to be held at my home studio in Lancaster County, PA.  See more details HERE. Hope to see you!

We are excited to announce that the next group Light Painting the Still Life Workshop will be held here at my home studio (in beautiful Lancaster County, PA) on:

~ August 15th, 16th and 17th, 2014.

More dates to be announced shortly.

Registration is now open, and the workshop is limited to 6 students. **We’re sorry, but this workshop has been filled. If you would like, we can place you on a wait list in case of any cancellations.

Click HERE for the schedule and details of the workshop.

My workshops involve real teaching of the methods I employ, and this is a technical and intensive workshop… you will be given the training needed to produce work at a very high level. You will be receiving personal, detailed hands-on (literally!) instruction on proper light painting (not light pointing), and my post production process. You will actually learn the nuances of lighting, and the nuances of using masking to create beautiful images!

My co-instructor, John Corcoran, will be bringing a lot of experience to the workshop. He has worked as a professional photographer for over 35 years, and has been light painting for almost 20 of those years.

He shoots wonderful floral images and portraits, all using light painting. You can see some of John’s images HERE.

Photograph by workshop student Dave Wood

You can see my students’ images in my Student Workshop Images page.

“I just finished my first light painting workshop and enjoyed every minute. It was well thought out and perfectly executed. When we got to the “hands-on” portion it had to be challenging for Harold and John to help students who were using different platforms, different equipment and different programs. Everything went smoothly and everyone created an impressive light painted image on their first try. Shooting tethered and using a tablet is definitely the best way to go when using the techniques that are needed. I am so glad that I made the trip and learned from the “master”. It would have taken a long, long time to figure everything out on my own. Now that I know the process, I am up and running. Thanks, Harold and John. You made it a very worthwhile experience.”
- Dave Wood, Florida – Light Painting the Still Life

We are excited to announce that the next group Light Painting the Still Life Workshop will be held here at my home studio (in beautiful Lancaster County, PA) on:

~ September 19th, 20th and 21st, 2014.

More dates to be announced shortly.

Registration is now open, and the workshop is limited to 6 students. **This workshop has been filled. Please call us at 717-923-0269 if you’d like to be on the wait list.**

Click HERE for the schedule and details of the workshop.

My workshops involve real teaching of the methods I employ, and this is a technical and intensive workshop… you will be given the training needed to produce work at a very high level. You will be receiving personal, detailed hands-on (literally!) instruction on proper light painting (not light pointing), and my post production process. You will actually learn the nuances of lighting, and the nuances of using masking to create beautiful images!

My co-instructor, John Corcoran, will be bringing a lot of experience to the workshop. He has worked as a professional photographer for over 35 years, and has been light painting for almost 20 of those years.

He shoots wonderful floral images and portraits, all using light painting. You can see some of John’s images HERE.

Photograph by workshop student Bill Earle

You can see my students’ images in my Student Workshop Images page.

Very often, I’ll place a highlight on the edge of something round. Of course, the highlight is on the “lit” side of the object, and so, the look of the highlight should indicate and be a result of the direction of lighting. In nature, when a hard light source is reflected on the edge of something rounded, the center of the highlight is brightest, and the brightness tapers off toward the ends of the highlight. Depending on various factors, like the reflectivity of the surface and the hardness of the light, this effect can be extreme or subtle. As in most of my work, I like to push things toward the dramatic side a bit. To that end, I employ one of the basic principles of lighting. Most photographers understand the inverse square law, which tells us that light falls off by the square of the distance. In other words, if we double the distance of the light to the subject, the amount of light is quartered. Put another way, if we move the light twice as far away, we lose two f-stops of exposure. This principle of lighting is often looked at in the negative (as a loss of something). In light painting, however, we use this principle to our advantage in several ways. This tutorial covers one of those ways.

Highlight on left using consistent distance………..Highlight on right using Inverse Square Law

So, in this image, I’m applying a highlight to the edge of a beautiful old scale. Below is a short video showing the application of the highlight in two different ways. In the first case, I’m keeping the distance of the light consistent as I go around the edge. In the second instance, you’ll see that I’m moving my light in an arc opposite the arc of the subject. This means that my light is closer to the subject at the center of the arc and gets progressively further away as I move through the arc away from the center. Light falls off by the square of the distance, so the center of the highlight is much brighter, and there’s a beautiful smooth gradation of light as we get further from that center point. Not only does this create the illusion of even more roundness of the edge, but it gives us a more dramatic indication of just where the light is coming from.

***Note: The video was shot with room lights ion so you could see the movement of the light. Normally, I am shooting in complete darkness.

This is one of a series of tutorials that I’ve created involving my light painting process, and it is just a quick look at the kind of information that my students learn more in depth at my workshops.

After the video starts, please click on the “gear” icon on the lower right to increase the video resolution for better viewing quality (1080 recommended)… especially if you want to watch it full screen.

To see more of my videos on Light Painting technique click HERE

Today I’ll be delivering three framed prints to the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. The prints are part of a juried photography exhibition of work by the Brandywine Photo Collective, a terrific group of talented photographers that I’ve had the pleasure of associating with for the last few years.

The show is entitled “Transitions“, and looks to be a very good one, with a high level of work. The show has 31 images that were chosen in by juror Eddie Soloway.

I felt that three images from an ongoing series, “Burnt Offerings”, would be appropriate for the theme, and happily, they were accepted!

The images are explained:

“Burnt Offerings” is a series of images of burned leaves. I’ve always been captivated by the beauty and variety of leaves. In photographing things that are “past their prime”, I work with the notion of finding beauty in things which are thought to no longer have any. In the fall, leaves are burned to ash. I decided to burn some leaves to discover what would happen to them, and I found something amazing. Although rendered to near ash they held their shape, albeit somewhat deformed, and are extremely fragile. Although devoid of color and nearly destroyed by the heat, I find them to be quite beautiful and almost metallic.

Please make some time to get to the show to see the show, which opens on May 3rd and runs through August 10th, with the opening reception on Sunday May 4th from 12-4 PM. I won’t be able to see you at the opening reception as my May Group Workshop is that weekend, but we will definitely be down to see the show before it ends!

“Burnt Offerings #1″ by Harold Ross

“Burnt Offerings #2″ by Harold Ross

“Burnt Offerings #3″ by Harold Ross

In case you haven’t seen it, Popular Photography is having a Light Painting Outdoor contest for the month of May. I wish I were judging it!

Why don’t you get outside and try your hand at some light painting outdoors at night! Bring a friend with you and have some fun while you’re at it. If you don’t get a winning image, at least you’ll have some good memories!

As you should with any contest you enter, make sure to read through the official rules to make sure you are okay with their language about copyright and usage!

A few months ago (yes, I’m playing catch-up), I had several workshops in one four week period. As always, I’m so proud of the images that were produced that I want to share them.

The first of these workshops, a 2-on-1, was with Fred Shiple and Tim Hacker – two friends who decided to travel together from Ohio and take a workshop. Both were experienced in photography and Photoshop, and both took very well to the process I teach at my workshops.

Fred wanted to do something traditional and simple, and as always, simple seems to work well when considering the transformational quality of light painting. He created a beautiful composition:

 Photograph by workshop student Fred Shiple

 Tim gravitated to my collection of old photography gear. He has an eye for color, and chose some props that worked together in that regard, and he also specifically wanted to learn to light glass objects. The reflection of one bottle in another was quite intriguing!

      Photograph by workshop student Tim Hacker

Will Doak, a fellow Pennsylvanian (who has recently moved to Santa Fe, and I’m a little jealous!), like Fred, decided to do a traditional still life. He selected some pewter from my prop collection and nicely combined it with some organic elements. Of special interest to us was the tiny glass with its specular highlights.

Photograph by workshop student Will Doak

Robert “Jake” Jacobsen, who took the train from his home in NYC, was quite knowledgeable about art in general, and was specifically interested in the painterly quality that light sculpting affords. Jake took to the process very quickly, and has actually been back for a second workshop (more on that in a future post). Hint: Remember the plumb bob…

Photograph by workshop student Robert “Jake” Jacobsen

The lighting techniques I teach in the workshop are crucial to my process, but the Photoshop post production has a bonus… the layering and masking techniques are applicable to non-light painting work also! Not only am I gratified by what my students produce during a workshop, but I’m also happy to know that their other photography will benefit  from what they learn here as well.

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

If you’re interested in learning this powerful and rewarding process, there are upcoming group workshops, as well as individualized one-on-one workshops available anytime, all to be held at my home studio in beautiful Lancaster County, PA.  See more details HERE. Hope to see you!

I recently received notice that one of my images from an ongoing series, “Burnt Offerings”, was accepted into “Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2014″, to be shown at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

The 47^th annual Art of the State is recognized as the official, statewide juried competition for Pennsylvania artists. Jurors selected artwork from 5 categories – Painting, Craft, Works on Paper, Photography and Sculpture. The exhibition includes 122 works of art by 114 artists from 30 counties. This year’s exhibit attracted 1,772 entries from 782 artists!

The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, June 22, at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, with an artists’ reception on Saturday June 21st from 7-9 PM. It runs through Sept. 14, 2014.

“Burnt Offerings” is my new ongoing series of images of burned leaves. I’ve always been captivated by the beauty and variety of leaves. In photographing things that are “past their prime”, I work with the notion of finding beauty in things which are thought to no longer have any. In the fall, leaves are often burned to ash. I decided to burn some leaves to discover what would happen to them, and I found something amazing. Although rendered to near ash, they held their shape, albeit somewhat deformed, and are extremely fragile. Although devoid of color and nearly destroyed by the heat, I find them to be quite beautiful and almost metallic.

“Burnt Offerings #3″ by Harold Ross

I always seem to be playing catch-up when it comes to recaps of light painting workshops… Things are just so busy here that it’s difficult to get around to getting it done sometimes. To that end, this recap covers two group workshops, both of which were quite successful!

Note *** In the first group, one student, Rob Goldsborough, asked us not to include his photograph in the workshop recap. This is because he photographed a specific subject relating to a book that will be published, and for this reason, we cannot show you his photograph prior to the book’s publication.***

Dan Gerth chose some very challenging subjects to shoot. Metal, glass, and a big range of tones, from black to white. In the workshop, we work with a backlit scrim to get beautiful graduated reflection in glass and chrome, and that came in very handy for Dan, who needed to control the brightness of the chrome tripod. Dan allowed the tripod legs to trail off into darkness, as bright elements leading off of the frame tend to be distracting. Dan employed a good technique to get some nice reflection in the lens of the Leica… he placed a small piece of white paper in front of the lens (not between the lens and the camera, of course), and then lit the paper with the diffused flashlight, creating the reflection.

Photograph by Dan Gerth

Steve Maxx chose to photograph a beautiful antique folding camera from my collection. The brown, brass and black areas are such a gorgeous combination. Steve decided to use an old door as a background, which works so well with the colors and textures of the camera. He employed the same technique as Dan did… Using a white piece of paper out in front of the lens to create the reflection in the lens. He really did a beautiful job lighting the front lens panel and front standard of the camera, as well as the bellows. Steve deftly composed this image in a short time, and did a terrific job of lighting it!

Photograph by Steve Maxx

 In this image, Manouch Shirzad had to deal with a wide range of objects, in terms of their reflectance. The glass flash tube and flashbulb were lit with a diffused scrim from above, but in order to get a subtle reflection on the right side of the flashbulb, he, as in the previous two examples, placed a small piece of white paper to the right of the flash tube and lit it with the diffused flashlight. This placed a soft reflection on the right side of the flash tube. The gear was lit with a diffused flashlight, as were the Kodak boxes. The difference in brightness between the boxes, the glass and the gear would normally present issues, but in light painting, as we control the dynamic range of the image, we aren’t worried about placing very dark and matte objects next to bright and/or reflective objects. Manouch realized that in shooting something like a box, it’s a challenge to make sure that each panel of the box has a different value so that the shape is apparent. I really like the subtlety with which he treated the top of the wooden box that everything is sitting on.

 Photograph by Manouch Shirzad

In searching through the props that we provide for each workshop, Charles Meacham found the gnarliest lime I’ve ever seen! It’s a great counterpoint to the silky smooth surface of the tomatoes. At first, Charles attempted to light all of the tomatoes in one capture. He soon found out that in lighting each tomato, he was creating highlights in the other tomatoes in places that he didn’t want them. He ended up shooting each tomato in a separate capture, in order to keep the lighting on each one just exactly as he wanted it.

Photograph by Charles Meacham

  My collection of props contains some very interesting objects… Sean Hoover picked out two hip implants from the collection, and decided to photograph them with a vertebra. Again, a tremendous variation in reflectance. The implants are essentially chrome and titanium, and being spherical, the chrome parts required an extremely soft light source, in this case, the scrim backlit with an LED panel. Metal and glass are seemingly difficult things to light, but my students find that they can be lit beautifully with a very simple technique. A very small touch that Sean used effectively was to place a small highlight on the tip of the front implant. Although quite small, this little highlight really pulls the tip of that implant forward.

 Photograph by Sean Hoover

Two months later, we had another group workshop, and below are the results.

Sean Sauber decided to bring some of his collectible pens to the workshop. Although I encourage students to bring their own objects to workshops to photograph, it’s something we always talk about beforehand to avoid students bringing overly complex objects. The pens that Sean brought are beautiful, but presented some lighting challenges given their glossy nature. The black pen with silver trim is a great example of how, in light painting, we can render two very different surface types with detail everywhere. We do this by lighting every element with just the right amount of light for that particular element, be it light or dark or reflective or matte. Sean brought a camera that wasn’t easily supported by tethering software, but he was very willing and able to find a workaround and was able to tether after all. I was very impressed by his troubleshooting skills!

Photograph by Sean Sauber

 Brian Zwit was  a real self-starter, quite adept at composition, and put together his still life with very little need for input from either John or myself. The color scheme of his image is quite nice, as well as the combination of surfaces. I remember that Brian decided to light the top of the roses a little more than the lower roses, which helped maintain the feel of the direction of the light. Brian’s image has a beautiful softness.

 Photograph by Brian Zwit

One of the things that I find so rewarding in teaching workshops is to see students create compositions that I would never think of creating.  This may sound rather egotistical, but what I mean by it is that I love to learn from my students. I learn that my way of thinking about composing a still life is not the only way, nor is it the best way… Larry Street created his composition out of reflective subjects…even the background is reflective… And there is something about the way the shapes relate to each other that I find very interesting. Larry talked about Salvador Dali and M.C. Escher, and how, in his photograph, he would like to combine objects that had nothing to do with each other (with the exception of their surface qualities), in order to create an image with a suggestion of the surreal. I think he was successful!

 Photograph by Larry Street

In this image, Sujinder Pothula overcame several composition challenges, and had a very difficult set of objects in terms of lighting. He really had to think through how he was applying the light in order to create depth in this rather complicated image. The motorcycle alone was quite complex. Of course, I was very happy to see him photographing BMW related objects, as I am passionate about  my BMW motorcycles! Great job, Sujinder!

Photograph by Sujinder Pothula

George Riling created a beautiful composition here, with a lovely color scheme. The pewter and background provide a wonderful monochromatic foil for the colors in the image. When I look at a still life shot from a camera angle like this; low, almost level with the subject, I always think about architecture and how one might design a skyline for a city. Here, George created a wonderful sense of height variation with his subjects that works quite well.

 Photograph by George Riling

Both of these workshops were terrific ones, and John Corcoran and I both enjoyed them very much.

This has been a very busy year. We will be doing recaps on several other workshops that have taken place this year… stay tuned for those updates! Until next time!

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

We are excited to announce that the next group Light Painting the Still Life Workshops will be held here at my home studio (in beautiful Lancaster County, PA) on:

~ January 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2015

~ March 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2015

~ April 10th, 11th, and 12th, 2015

More dates to be announced shortly.

Registration is now open, and the workshop is limited to 6 students.

Click HERE for the schedule and details of the workshop.

My workshops involve real teaching of the methods I employ, and this is a technical and intensive workshop… you will be given the training needed to produce work at a very high level. You will be receiving personal, detailed hands-on (literally!) instruction on proper light painting (not light pointing), and my post production process. You will actually learn the nuances of lighting, and the nuances of using masking to create beautiful images!

My co-instructor, John Corcoran, will be bringing a lot of experience to the workshop. He has worked as a professional photographer for over 35 years, and has been light painting for almost 20 of those years.

He shoots wonderful floral images and portraits, all using light painting. You can see some of John’s images HERE.

Photograph by workshop student Steve Maxx

You can see my students’ images in my Student Workshop Images page.

Fantastic news…

I’m very honored to now be represented by Susan Spiritus Gallery!

Susan Spiritus has been a leader in the field of fine art photography for 38 years, opening the doors to her Southern California gallery in 1976 so that she could share her passion for photography with others.

I met Susan at photolucida in Portland a few years back, and I had followed up with her by sending her a small folio of my “Night” series. According to Susan, she has been thinking about my work for all of this time, and recently decided to represent me.

I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Please take some time to look at the wonderful artists in her gallery website.

Here is the announcement:

https://madmimi.com/p/067a55

Photograph by Harold Ross

For the last four days, Vera and I have been at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. with photographer Jim Ryan of Greenville, South Carolina. Jim was able to garner access for us to photograph “behind the scenes” at the Biltmore House (and this was no small feat, as photography in the house is strictly forbidden!)  It was an exciting opportunity and Jim made sure that we had complete access to anything we wanted to photograph. This was in itself a challenge; the Biltmore is absolutely chock full of the most amazing things, all personally collected by George and Edith Vanderbilt: priceless hand-carved furniture, 16th century tapestries, a library with 10,000 volumes, 65 fireplaces (each more interesting than the next), original paintings by Renoir and John Singer Sargent, and on and on. It really is overwhelming, and Jim and I had the arduous (but happy!) task of deciding just exactly what we wanted to photograph. We were helped immensely by the staff at the Biltmore, in particular Laura Overbey, Collections Manager. The entire staff was there to help in whatever way they could, thanks to Jim setting everything up in advance. Since we just finished shooting Tuesday night (at midnight) I don’t have any final images to show yet, but below are some images of us entering the house, and a few snapshots. A huge thank you goes out to Jim Ryan for coming up with the concept of us light painting in the Biltmore, and then making it happen. Thank you, Jim!

A shot through the van windshield, approaching the Biltmore House

Jim Ryan and me unloading equipment from “Big Blue”, the light painting van.

Me explaining to Collections Manager Laura Overbey just how small of an impact we will make.

 A multiple exposure of me light painting inside the Biltmore House.

 Viewing a capture just made in the Smoking Room.

Over three days (and nights) of shooting, we made 12 photographs, so stay tuned as I produce these images of this most amazing estate, which has never been photographed in this way! I can’t wait to see them, and I hope you will enjoy them!

Well, we decided to make some improvements to the workshop in terms of hardware, so we outfitted the workshops with new iMac computers!

Windows users do not be alarmed! The interfaces in Photoshop and Capture One are virtually identical between the two platforms. This means that what you learn at the workshop will seamlessly transfer to whatever computer you work on currently. Also, the monitors have all been calibrated, and are much better in size and quality than laptop monitors. And, so that students can take all image files home with them, we will be giving each student a 16 GB flash drive.

We have used the new computers at two workshops so far, and it has been fantastic! No downtime for computer and software issues, and the larger monitors allow us to see in great detail.

Also, we are very proud to announce that Wacom and Phase One have become sponsors! Wacom has provided 6 Intous Pro tablets and Phase One has provided us with 6 licenses for Capture One to be used at the workshops. A huge thank you goes out to Wacom and Phase One for making this possible.

Our apologies…we’re really behind on the posts of my student workshop recaps, and we’re finally trying to catch up. You can expect more of these posts over the next few weeks!

I had the great pleasure of having two Canadians, Gareth Callaway and Jack Schachner, for a two-on-one workshop. They were both very funny, and kept me in stitches for three days! Although they are good friends, they differ in their sense of humor… The thing is, they both had me laughing with the email correspondence before the workshop, so I was actually worried how we would get work done with all of the impending hilarity! We managed.

I’m always curious to see what props are chosen by students, and in this case, both Gareth and Jack came up with some interesting but very different compositions.

Jack decided to photograph a still life with garlic, one of my favorite subjects. Garlic is one of those things that, when lit in a certain way, is just beautiful.

 Photograph by workshop student Jack Schachner

As is often the case, I learn from my students, and when Jack suggested back-lighting the peeled skin of the garlic, I mistakenly thought (and suggested) that it wouldn’t work. He insisted on trying it, and it worked quite well!  To borrow from my friend John Tebbetts, “Grasshopper teaches Master”. Although I do use backlighting often, I’m very careful with it, as backlighting can counter the effect of well placed “normal” lighting. In other words, the light coming through from behind literally fills in shadows which render shape and texture, thereby flattening the lighting. In this case, Jack was spot on, and I was, well… not.

Gareth put together a very cool vintage still life, which has a great color scheme. I love the old Thermos bottle (given to me by Vera’s father), and the antique box that was brought to the studio by my friend and co-instructor, John Corcoran (John has been light painting for over 20 years, and shoots flowers and portraits seen HERE).

Gareth learned how raking (or skimming) the light can bring out tremendous detail on “flat” surfaces, like the faces of the toy wooden blocks. When lit with this technique, detail is revealed which we don’t normally see. It always surprises me.

Photograph by workshop student Gareth Callaway

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

 We hope everyone has a very nice Thanksgiving!

We hope that everyone is having a great holiday season, and we wish you much happiness in the new year to come!

I find it so rewarding to have repeat students at my Sculpting with Light workshops. It’s gratifying to see the progress they make the second time around.

One of my repeat students, Robert “Jake” Jacobsen, who came down to Lancaster County from Manhattan, has taken three One-on-One workshops. I decided to recap the second and third one in this post.

Since Jake had “gotten his feet wet” in light painting previously, he had very clear ideas about what he wanted to photograph. I get so much out of seeing how other photographers think about and look at composition and content, and I always learn from it! Of course, this happens at almost every workshop, but generally, students are looking for input on ideas, especially when they are first learning the process. Jake was pretty sure of just what he wanted to do.

For his first project, he wanted to create a “surreal” image using an old camera and plumb bob from my collection. He specifically wanted to have the camera floating and some element of movement. Jake thought that the plumb bob as a pendulum would be interesting. Both objects are well over 100 years old, but they certainly take on a new life in this image:

 Photograph by workshop student Robert “Jake” Jacobsen

More recently, Jake came down to the studio again for a third workshop. This time, as before, he had something very specific in mind, and Jake had gone shopping for props in Manhattan, probably the best place in the world to find great things to photograph (and in this case, to eat!)

He wanted to do an image involving wine, cheese, and charcuterie. He brought with him the most wonderful collection of cheeses (the Yellow Stilton was fantastic!) and cured meats. The image is one of those rare ones in which everything feels right. Although the overall composition is complex, and there is a lot to look at, the image doesn’t feel too “busy” to me. Also, I feel that it has a beautiful stillness about it.

 Photograph by workshop student Robert “Jake” Jacobsen

Both of these images are so visually interesting to me; they are so different in both concept and execution, yet they were done by the same person!

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

Workshop attendee Will Rose, who traveled here from the UK, created this simple yet beautiful composition.

Back in the UK, Will has access to some beautiful old subjects, such as a lovely vintage postal scale, some gorgeous old tools, etc. Of course, he couldn’t bring these things, so he had to settle for my collection of, as they say in England, “Bits and Bobs.”

Will was a dedicated student and we had a great time working on this lovely photograph. He struck a nice balance with having a background element, which is interesting yet at the same time “in the background”. This was so well done by subtly softening the chest and handle, and by keeping it just a bit darker than the foreground objects. Great job, Will!

Photograph by workshop student Will Rose

To see more student images from my workshops, click HERE.

Photograph by Harold Ross

We are excited to announce that we have added new dates (see below) for our group Light Painting the Still Life Workshops which will be held here at my home studio (in beautiful Lancaster County, PA).

~ March 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2015 ***Registration is open, 1 spot remains.

~ April 10th, 11th, and 12th, 2015 ***This workshop has been filled. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list.***

NEW DATES:

~ May 15th, 16th, and 17th, 2015

~ June 12th, 13th, and 14th, 2015

~ July 10th, 11th, and 12th, 2015

~ August 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2015

Registration is now open, and the workshop is limited to 4 students.

Click HERE for the schedule and details of the workshop.

My workshops involve real teaching of the methods I employ, and this is a technical and intensive workshop… you will be given the training needed to produce work at a very high level. You will be receiving personal, detailed hands-on (literally!) instruction on proper light painting (not light pointing), and my post production process. You will actually learn the nuances of lighting, and the nuances of using masking to create beautiful images!

My co-instructor, John Corcoran, will be bringing a lot of experience to the workshop. He has worked as a professional photographer for over 35 years, and has been light painting for almost 20 of those years.

He shoots wonderful floral images and portraits, all using light painting. You can see some of John’s images HERE.

You can see my students’ images in my Student Workshop Images page.

My long time friend, John Corcoran (who is also the co-instructor at my group workshops) photographs flowers and people using light painting. Between us, we have over 45 years of light painting experience!

John mainly photographs flowers that he grows himself, and they include orchids, plumeria and roses.

One of the things that John has mentioned is that the first rose of the season is the most perfect, followed by the last rose of the season. I wonder why that is? Is the weather a factor, or is it something that nature does?

Light painting affords us the ability to bring out details, shape and dimension that ordinary lighting can’t. This is one of the main reasons that John and I have been practicing it for decades.

Here is John’s image of one of his “first roses” of the season. This beautiful photograph gained entry into the prestigious ” Art of the State, 2015″ exhibition in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:

Photograph by John Corcoran

To see more of John’s light painted floral photography, please click HERE

~~I’m very honored to be featured in LENSCRATCH!~~

Noted photographer DeAnn Desilets was asked by Founder and Editor Aline Smithson of LENSCRATCH, to be a guest curator. She was to focus on work from seven fine art photographers from Pennsylvania.

DeAnn was especially interested in my NIGHT project and decided to feature that work.

Please take some time to check out DeAnn’s photography and the work of the other artists HERE.

Thank you, DeAnn!