Are you F!@#ing kidding me, light painting in space now… Mr. Darren Pearson sent me a heads up to this story today and when I saw it I about fell out of my chair. The above image is a Tweet from Koichi Wakata, a JAXA Astronaut light painting on The International Space station! Yes I said LIGHT PAINTING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION! The even crazier news is that this is not the first, or even second time light paintings have been created in SPACE its actually the third. JAXA, the Japanese version of NASA, has been conducting these light painting experiments since 2009 with the first project of its kind called “Spiral Top” developed by Dr.Takuro Osaka. Spiral Top was classified as an “Art Project” and it’s mission was “to produce light arts using a spinning top that has arms illuminating with LED point light sources” these first space light paintings were created April 30th, 2009. See Image Below.

The second of these light painting projects was called “Auroral Oval Spiral Top” it was performed on May 12, 2011 and its mission was to use long exposure photography and “a spinning top that has arms illuminating with LED linear light sources and point light sources”. The various movements of the spinning top floating in microgravity was used to show “aurora-like light traces”. See Below

All I can say is Japan, JAXA, and Mr. Koichi Wakata your awesome. Thank you for taking light painting out of this world!

Day time light painting anyone… Very rarely do we post products but this one could be pretty awesome for light painting photography. This new Tiffen ND Filter blocks 10 stops with no color change. hmmmm the possibilities.

Tiffen has just announced the Tiffen ND 3.0, a new 10-stop neutral density filter, which will be shown off at the company’s booth C9143 at CES 2014 in Las Vegas. The Tiffen ND 3.0 will block ten stops of light from entering the lens, making the use of wide apertures as well as long exposures possible even in bright light. In the press release, Tiffen claims that with this filter, no color changes will occur.

The Tiffen ND 3.0 will be available in sizes ranging from 52mm to 82mm. Pricing and availability have not been announced thus far.

Via Phoblographer

Bryce Wenker is in love with a beautiful little lady named Val. So much in love that he wants to share the rest of his life with her. Soooo Bryce decided to ask this lovely lady to Marry him and he did it in a way that should make all of us light painters proud. Here is how it happened…

LPP ∇ So Bryce how did the light painting proposal idea come about?

BW ∇ The light painting idea came to me in St. Thomas where we were light painting at a beach bar with a bunch of friends. One of the people we were with asked me if I was proposing. Needless to say, from there on out I knew that’s how I wanted to do it.

A few months went by and we were planning our next journey to Nicaragua. Getting everything ready to go I checked out some of the light painting tutorials on your site and compared different peoples techniques and settings used.

LPP ∇ So what happened when you got there did you shoot it the first night?

BW ∇ When we got to Nicaragua I set the stage the first night and played around with some light painting knowing what was to come a few days into our trip. She liked the outcome so we talked about testing out some shots when we got to Corn Island.

When we made it to Corn Island we went out to the beach the second night and tried writing “Corn Island”

LPP ∇ How did that go?

BW ∇ She was getting all into it and we kept going back and forth who could make the better light painting. I kept having her pace out the steps and draw lines in the sand so we knew how far we had to write. At this point she was like “come on I get it I don’t need lines”

Once that was all set up I told her I would try one last time. So, while she was standing there for almost 2 minutes wondering why it was taking me so long to write “Corn Island” I was in a heavy focus trying to write “Will Marry You Me” in that order backwards without going out of the frame and keeping her in the middle. About half way through the drawing she says gritting her teeth together trying not to move “What the hell is taking you so long” then I yell don’t move! First attempt was so so but legible none the less. I went for a round two and turned out better than round 1. So I yell “Oh sick this one turned out perfect!” Since the camera was on a beach chair I was already on one knee with the ring in my boardshorts. To say the least she was shocked…laughed, almost a couple tears, and most of all surprised and excited.

LPP ∇ Thats really great man thank you for sharing your story with us. I think I can speak for all of us and wish you both a happy, healthy, creative life together, Congratulations!

There are two exciting new light painting shops that you should know about especially with Christmas time fast approaching. The first is Herramientas Light Painting, this is the first international light painting hardware store with many essential light painting tool like LEDS, ElWire, and RGB lights.

The second is The Light Painting Shop created by Patrick Rochon. This shop features affordable light painting prints from Patrick and other international light painting artist. The Light Painting shop is also the exclusive place to buy Patricks Light Painting Blades.

Both shops are great places to get a gift for your brother, sister, friend, neighbor, or anyone else that might be a fan of light painting photography!

The greatest light painting exhibition on earth is about to happen!

LPWA (Light Painting World Alliance) is putting on the 2ND World Light Painting Exhibition showcasing some of the greatest light painting talent from around the globe! The show will include 100 works of art from 60 different artists spanning 13 different countries!

Not only will the event display photographs it will also showcase light painting animations and live performances! This will be an event to see with light painting artist Jozef Sedlak, John Hesketh, and Brian Hart revealing never before seen works!

The show is being held in Paris at Espace Pierre Cardin December 13th-15th! All are welcome to attend and the event is free!

Below is the full list of amazing artist that you will be able to see and MANY you will be able to meet in person! If you can get to Paris and you don’t go to this event you are crazy!

AUSTRALIA
Rob Turney

BELGIUM
Jan Teunis

CANADA
Anton Julmy
Luc Pigeault
Patrick Rochon

CZECH REPUBLIC
Kamil Varga

IRELAND
Gareth Nathan

ITALY
Carlotta Bertelli

FINLAND
Janne Parviainen

FRANCE
Stephane Babatasi
Quentin Bischoff
Tubault Blanchet
Jul’s Boo
Julien Breton
Vincent Bruno
Césium LightGraff
Cisco
Dawn
Diliz
Frederic Ferreira
Jadikan
Konte Rast
Gildas Malassinet
Chanette Manso
Romain Millet
Marko
MASS
Nico Luz
Rezine
SWIT LightGraff

GERMANY
Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke
Jürgen Gnass
Gustavo Mercerat
Timo Rehpenning
JanLeonardo Wöllert
Heinz-Jörg Wurzbacher

NETHERLAND
Hugo Baptista

RUSSIA
Sergey Churkin

SLOVAKIA
Jozef Sedlák

SPAIN
Erasmo Daaz

SWITZERLAND
Pablo Pietri

UK
Alan Jaras
James De Luna
Gabby Vicente
Rosetta Whitehead
Daniel Whitaker

USA
Todd Blaisdell
Dennis Calvert
Alexander DeForest
Steven Erra
Brian Matthew Hart
John Hesketh
David Hull
Jeremy Jackson
Eric Mellinger
Michael Newcomer
Darren Pearson
David Schlaich
Eric Staller
Jamie Wyman

Light Painting photographer Patrick Scherer has been creating some beautiful light painting sculptures recently using a drill, yes I said drill.

As with most things that are worthwhile the process is labor intensive. The most difficult part of creating one of the beauties is getting the combination of exposure time and light elements just right, it a lot of trial and error. Patrick says “We must not hesitate to make tests of all kinds even if the results are sometimes catastrophic.” I think that is great advice we can all apply to our work.

Patrick was kind enough to share a selection of his latest images and a couple of behind the scenes shots to hopefully inspire you to make your own, check them out below!

To see more of Patricks work check out his Facebook page HERE or Flickr page here.

LPP ∇ Soooo…. Vicki DaSilva I see you recently did a light painting tour in France can you tell me more about it? What was the main purpose of your trip? Did you go specifically to light paint, as part of a vacation, were you invited by some gallery, or a little of all three?

VD ∇ The main purpose of the trip was all three! We went to Paris for 2 weeks for a combination work/family trip. We were long overdue for a visit! We have a long history with Paris!! It had been 10 years since we were last there. I met Antonio (my husband/partner/father of our girls) there. His family emigrated to Paris from Portugal when he was 9. We lived there from 1990-1993. Our younger daughter was born there, so Paris is always in my heart!

LPP ∇ Since you have history there did you have specific shots in mind that you wanted to create from places you had been before?

VD ∇ I had planned 4 specific shoots. My work is two fold, graffiti oriented and spatially oriented. The photo shoots were a combo of both.

The first shoot was at the Jardin de Tuileries at the entrance near the Place de la Concorde. The piece, ‘Antonio Antonio’ was my artistic response/homage to Richard Serra’s sculpture ‘Clara Clara’ originally installed in 1983.

My work with the 8 foot fluorescent lamp is very influenced by his ideas about sculpture. Moving the lamp with my body in the space, live, on site, is my way of connecting to his thinking about “the idea of the body passing through space, and the body’s movement not being predicated totally on image or sight or optical awareness, but on physical awareness in relation to space, place, time, movement.” Richard Serra, in an interview with Lynne Cooke and Michael Govan, in *Richard Serra: Torqued Ellipses* (New York: Dia Center for the Arts, 1997), pp. 27–28.

Having spent 10 years working for the Serra’s provided me with an incredible opportunity to learn from one of the most important artists of the 20th century. The ideas evolved as my work evolved.

When I began moving the lamp vertically with my body in 2009 it was a culmination of everything I had learned about Richard’s work. I have also taken his site-specific concerns and tried to elevate that process through the act of the work existing as it is created as opposed to creating a work for a site and installing it. My carbon footprint is also non existent as the work exists as the act and the photographic/video documentation of the act.

The second shoot was to commemorate the Tour Paris13 http://www.itinerrance.fr/ on the final night of the installation exhibition on October 31, 2013. The exhibition was extremely popular, especially as the end drew near there were tens of thousands of people trying to see the show, which of course was impossible. Lines were around the blocks! We tried to see the show, but it was impossible so we returned that night to do that shoot to capture the feeling of that last night with all the people there. I did 3 photos, ‘FOY’ which is my tag, and stands for Fountain of Youth, ‘ce moment’, which means ‘this moment’ in French, and a piece with the 8 footer, ‘TourParis13’. An incredibly special night for sure!

The third shoot was at the Place du Trocadéro facing La Tour Eiffel. I am currently enjoying the inclusion of the figure in my work as it happens spontaneously at public spaces. The random act of movement is very much in connection with dance. Navigating a popular space such as the Place du Trocadéro with so many people was a great challenge! People were generally very receptive of my interaction and intervention. I will be exhibiting the photo, ‘Eiffel Eiffel’ at Context Art Miami with Cheryl Hazan Contemporary in NYC Dec 3-8.
http://www.contextartmiami.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=10&tabindex=9&dealerid=27587&curidx=17&back=name

LPP ∇ About the evolution of your work, can you talk a little bit about that and how important it is for the work of a light painter or artist in general to evolve? How do you avoid getting stuck or uninspired?

VD ∇ I think it is very important for the artist to try as much as possible to keep the work evolving and fresh in some way while possibly connecting ideas to history, to other artists, to contemporary culture, etc. Especially for the artist to not get bored! After 33 years of light painting photography I need to keep myself challenged! I now think about my work more in terms of art than light painting. Light painting photography is the medium but technique is not the only artistic message I am trying to communicate. And I am learning and researching new media alternatives for my work for installation shows to expand the work from the traditional photo on the wall. I am interested now in working more in public spaces with crowds, for example, as I did with ‘Eiffel Eiffel’ and ‘Tour Paris13.’ And I continue to think a lot about activist art and how I can contribute to that. I see a lot of shows in NYC, I saw the Philippe Parreno show in Paris which was incredibly thought provoking!
http://palaisdetokyo.com/en/exhibition/philippe-parreno

Seeing art helps me to question and inspire my work on an ongoing basis. If it’s not possible to visit in person, seeing work online is the next best thing.

LPP ∇ Besides creating beautiful works of art did you have anything else exciting happen on your trip?

VD ∇ While in Paris I had several meetings with a gallery interested in my work. I am very excited to possibly have a solo show there in the fall of 2014. It is too early to discuss that publicly but it looks to be a great opportunity for me!

LPP ∇ A gallery in Paris interested in your work and a possible solo show, thats awesome! Seeing as you have over 30 years of experience what advice would you give to up-and-coming light painters trying to get there work into galleries or a place to have a show. What has worked for you in the past. Do the galleries find you or do you generally reach out to them?

VD ∇ It is a combination of both. I actively seek group shows to participate in, introduce myself to gallerists whenever possible, attend openings, network at art fairs, show anyone who will look at my work on my phone, network with artists online & off, enter competitions, contact publications, etc etc. The typical work of an artist is all of this. And it never ends! I also did Fountain Art Fair last year in NYC and will do it again in 2014. That was a great fair for me in terms of connections and sales

LPP ∇ I know you have some serious light painting equipment in your arsenal how did you get your light painting gear from the US to Paris? Did you travel with those 8 foot bulbs?

VD ∇ We shipped a tube of three 8 foot fluorescent lamps to Paris via FedEx as they do not
make 8 footers in Europe. The largest is 6 feet. They arrived unbroken! We shipped them to Antonio’s brother where they will stay until our next trip to Paris.

LPP ∇ You met up with another incredible light painter with while you were there right?

YES!!!! I was so excited to FINALLY meet Marko93 after talking to him and following his work online for years! 🙂 I had a great feeling we would be friends and the vibe would be cool, and it was even better than I had hoped for!

LPP ∇ Did you create any images with Marko?

VD ∇ Yes, We only had one night to shoot together so we met at the Tour Paris13 and did some spontaneous photos in his installation room there. It was great to just jam together casually! Just gaining access to see the installations inside was incredible and only possible through his connection! Artists were inside touching up their work as Google Street was coming the next day to document the entire show. As I said, the show was a HUGE success and I imagine more buildings slated for demolition will become temporary graffiti meccas as this one was! I hope to do more collab work with Marko in the future and I hope he comes to NYC to make work too!!

It was a highly productive work trip overall and also great to see family, old friends and meet new friends too, especially Marko! J’ADORE PARIS!