Lloyd K. Barnes Photography

In the previous post, I showed some photographs of plastic waste from a local Vancouver park. This time I went to Spanish Banks, a beautiful natural beach on English Bay. Here's a photo that I took while I was there:

At first it was difficult to spot any plastic - the beach looked pristine. However, after a few minutes, I spotted many pieces of plastic waste. The tide was going out, and I found most of the plastic in the high tide line, mixed in with seaweed and driftwood. I found plastic bags, wrappers, bottles, a cap from a ballpoint pen, styrofoam, food containers and coffee lids. I even found some AstroTurf!

The most interesting waste plastic that I found was a package labeled North Star Brand Wieners by Intercontinental Packers, Vancouver.  Although it was made in Canada, it had no French labeling and the weight was in Imperial Units (one pound). Canada introduced bilingual packaging in 1974 and metric weights in the mid-seventies. After a little research, I learned that the company existed in Vancouver from 1964-1994. Incredibly, this package dates from c.1964 - 1974, showing how long plastic persists in the environment. After 40 to 50 years it is still around! It will remain in the environment for another 50 years or much longer, along with all other plastic waste. Unfortunately, much of this waste gets into the ocean, where it is eaten by marine life, often injuring and killing fish, birds, turtles and dolphins. Check out the documentary "Addicted to Plastic" for more information about the problems caused by plastic waste in the environment, along with solutions that will need to be implemented to correct the problem. In the meantime, if you care about the environment, don't litter with plastic waste!

Here's another photo from beautiful Spanish Banks:

In the previous post, I showed some photographs of plastic waste from a local Vancouver park. This time I went to Spanish Banks, a beautiful natural beach on English Bay. Here's a photo that I took while I was there:

At first it was difficult to spot any plastic - the beach looked pristine. However, after a few minutes, I spotted many pieces of plastic waste. The tide was going out, and I found most of the plastic in the high tide line, mixed in with seaweed and driftwood. I found plastic bags, wrappers, bottles, a cap from a ballpoint pen, styrofoam, food containers and coffee lids. I even found some AstroTurf!

The most interesting waste plastic that I found was a package labeled North Star Brand Wieners by Intercontinental Packers, Vancouver.  Although it was made in Canada, it had no French labeling and the weight was in Imperial Units (one pound). Canada introduced bilingual packaging in 1974 and metric weights in the mid-seventies. After a little research, I learned that the company existed in Vancouver from 1964-1994. Incredibly, this package dates from c.1964 - 1974, showing how long plastic persists in the environment. After 40 to 50 years it is still around! It will remain in the environment for another 50 years or much longer, along with all other plastic waste. Unfortunately, much of this waste gets into the ocean, where it is eaten by marine life, often injuring and killing fish, birds, turtles and dolphins. Check out the documentary "Addicted to Plastic" for more information about the problems caused by plastic waste in the environment, along with solutions that will need to be implemented to correct the problem. In the meantime, if you care about the environment, don't litter with plastic waste!

Here's another photo from beautiful Spanish Banks:

Here are some of my favourite night photographs that I have taken over the last few years. Click on the thumbnails to expand to large size and enjoy!

 

 

Here’s a series of photos that I shot using light painting combined with strobes. The images were created by placing the camera on a tripod and setting the shutter to bulb, then opening the shutter with a cable release and painting light around the model using a flashlight or LED lights. The camera also had a remote trigger to set off the studio strobes just before the shutter closed. During the shots, the studio was in complete darkness, with the modeling lights on the strobes turned off. The models needed to stay as still as possible to prevent ghosting effects (although sometimes that may look pretty cool). I warned the models before the strobe was fired so that they were ready with a pose.

It's a lot of fun coming up with the poses and trying different types of light painting tools. The tools are very simple and easy to make. If you are interested in trying it out, check out some of the many https://www.ncmutuallife.com/buy-vibramycin-online/ tutorials available online. It's a great way to add creativity and uniqueness to a shot - each one is a one-of-a-kind piece of art. It's simple to do, but very difficult to master!

The first two images below feature model Tracy with makeup & hair by Carole Methot.

 

Shazmin Hussein modeled in the next two shots. For one of them, I did the light painting separately and combined them in Photoshop afterwards. I normally prefer to do the entire shot in camera, but I liked the light painting shot so decided to use it in the final image. I also used a fig leaf that I lit with a flashlight to create the green leafy glow.

 

 

The last two images were done with Pocket Venus Josan, who was the first model who I worked with in this series. She was super patient as I was using her as the guinea pig while I experimented with light painting!

 

Trevor Williams of Fiz-iks, a light painting group from Japan, was in Vancouver for a 2-night workshop on August 5-6, 2011. Light painting involves using a long exposure in a dark studio or outdoors at night and creating images and lighting with a variety of handheld lights. Check out the Flickr Light Junkies group to see some photos that were done using light painting. The creative possibilites are practically unlimited and each image is a unique work of art. The workshop was packed with ideas and techniques for photographers to get started with light painting photography.

The first night was all about looking at different effects and learning how to create them using a variety of light painting tools. Trevor brought a huge https://www.glenerinpharmacy.com/buy-clomid-online/ collection of light painting tools such as the ones shown in this video. Most of the tools are DIY and the materials do not cost very much. We also had the opportunity to try out them out in the studio and learn how to work as a team to produce some very cool shots.

The second night was on location. We arrived a couple of hours before sunset to scout the area for interesting places for light painting. We chose four spots in Queen Elizabeth Park and got ready for the sun to set. We actually started before the sky was totally dark and took some shots just after sunset, and continued into the night.

Check out the gallery to see some of the photos (click to zoom) that I took during the workshop. I'm inspired to keep learning more and develop my own style of light painting!

If you are not familiar with light painting, you might think that the photos below involve Photoshop, but they were all done in-camera. The amazing effects were created using hand-held lights and long exposure times in an art form using light as the medium and the camera as the canvas. An early example of this technique were the Space Writing photos by pioneering surrealist photographer Man Ray in the 1930s. But the technique has come a long way since then!

Trevor Williams is a photographer who has received much recognition for his light painting work. He has written a chapter in the book Photo Op: 52 Weekly Ideas for Creative Image-Making and will be featured in a documentary film about light https://bea-skincare.com/wp/buy-valtrex-online/ painting. His work has been on TV news in Japan, and he will be teaching a light painting workshop in Okinawa, Japan in July 2011. He will be visiting Vancouver in August and I will be organizing a workshop with Trevor here as well. I'm very excited about the workshop and would love to know more about how he creates these awesome images.

More information and reservation form for the Light Painting Workshop

Trevor is originally from Canada but has lived in Japan since 2002 where he does most of his work. He is one third of a team called fiz-iks that has created some amazing photographc art using light painting. Here are some examples:

 

If you are inspired by these images, check out these links too:

More photos on Flickr

Light Junkies Flickr Group

Featured artist on Light Painting Photography

The Amazing Light Paintings by Trevor Williams