Calligraphy Light Painting Part II

Why do I describe calligraphy as the supreme discipline? Because it requires maximum concentration. Both spatial thinking and symmetry are required here. Composition, color selection and light intensity must be coordinated. It really is a challenge. The cover picture is the first interim result after 3 hours of preparation. I took this picture with an Olympus in LiveComposite mode. This has the advantage that I can follow the image composition live on the monitor. I found this very helpful for practicing the coordination of movements. As always, I will show the tools I used at the end of my article.

Due to a lack of models, "Freddy" my skull had to be used for this shoot. He has the positive quality of being very calm, patient and can hold still for hours.
Together with some calligraphy, the end result looks like rocker patches on a cowl. In the picture above I tried to add some background to the picture. Unfortunately, that didn't work out so well.

I fitted Freddy with an Arca-Swiss quick-release plate. This makes it easy to mount and align the skull on a tripod in front of the camera.
First I exposed Freddy with the scanner. Then I used the pixelstick with two pre-selected colors and moved him in an S-shape through the background. For orientation, I stuck a dot in the middle of the set with self-luminous adhesive tape. Now it's important to move to the right and left in equal steps and to perform the light figures as identically as possible. I haven't managed that yet. But the challenging exercises have a meditative quality and I enjoy them.

Now it was time to test the whole thing without LiveComposite and screen with my Canon. In the picture above you can see some light figures with different tools. So it also works without Olympus 😉.

From top to bottom:

• Pixelstick without diffuser

• Convoy S2+ (red) with adapter on mounted tube and end cap

• Convoy S2+ (orange) with adapter and acrylic rod

• Convoy S2+ (blue) with adapter and acrylic rod

• Ryus Lightworks flashlight with aperture attachment

Below I show how to remove the diffuser from the Pixelstick. You need an allen key for this.

I hope you were able to take some inspiration with you. My interest in continuing this topic has certainly been aroused. I'm sure there will be a third part to this chapter.

So stay tuned!