Michael Ross Interview

Light Painting Photographer Michael Ross, Inventor of the “Digital Light Wand”, has been hard at work promoting and progressing light painting. He has started a photo school that will teach courses specific to light painting photography, he has written a light painting photography book, and he will have some of his own work published this month in Photo Technique Magazine. I got the chance to catch up with mike recently to how the F*#! all this happened…..

LPP ∇ Hey Mike so you have a lot going on in your photography world, your school, light painting book, and getting published tell me whats happening…

MR ∇ That is for sure! There is a lot going on in my world right now. I have been in the process of starting up a Photography School that will offer courses which will focus on specific areas, such as a course to teach moms how to take better photos of their kiddos and of course a Light Painting course.

In the midst of all of this, I have been able to complete a Light Painting “How To” book that is focused on teaching beginners not only the basics of how to use their DSLR cameras, but how to use them with light painting to give them a good solid kick start in the art form.

LPP ∇ That is a full plate are you still working a “normal” job as well or is this your full time gig now?

MR ∇ I have left the I.T. career that I have been working in for over 30 years behind. I am pursuing my dream now.

LPP ∇ Thats is awesome I bet it feels great! you say you are in the process of starting the photography school, have you already taught some classes or are you still putting it all together?

MR ∇ I have been teaching small classes and informal sessions on the side for quite some time. I am still in the process at the moment to find a good location for Little Photo School and have also been working on creating the formal course materials and presentations. It is a TON of work but I am having a blast doing it!

LPP ∇ Is the building of the Little Photo School the inspiration for your new light painting book? Will it be used as sort of a text book?

MR ∇ The book has been something I have been working on for a while. And with all of the work on the school materials in teaching the basics of how the camera works, along with the experiences that I have had in teaching others camera basics and Light Painting, I decided it was a really good time to complete it all. It helped me put together a good foundation for teaching photography basics as well for some of the other classes I will be offering in the School.

This specific book, “LIGHT PAINTING PHOTOGRAPHY – A Complete How To Guide for Beginners” was written for someone that wants to get into Light Painting and may have even purchased their first DSLR to get into it. It could basically be looked at as a guide for jumping into “Manual Mode” by using Light Painting Photography as the subject.

LPP ∇ Thats great! I know there are a few other light painting books out there, but I think this will be the first “HOW TO” book. Do you have a lot of people that come to you wanting to learn specifically light painting? Our art form is growing everyday, do you see the growth in your teaching with more people wanting to learn?

MR ∇ There has definitely been a lot of interest in Light Painting and it seems to be growing more every day! I have had the pleasure of leading a few Light Painting Photowalks that were offered by one of the largest camera shops in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and that is where the idea for the book first hit me. For each of the walks, a lot of time was spent at the start teaching folks how to get their cameras set up for Light Painting. It just seemed like there was a need for the book, so I worked on putting it together to fill the need.

LPP ∇ Did any other light painters contribute to the book?

MR ∇ None of them did directly. But I do mention a lot of them throughout the book and have a few pages of “Other resources” listed where I provide links to their work.

LPP ∇ Thats nice of you to give a shout to your fellow light painters… I saw that you are also getting some images published tell me about that.

MR ∇ That has been in the works for a while now and actually started with a college student in Oslo, Norway contacting me about doing an article on me for a project in his school work. I agreed and to make a long story short, he did great with the article with his school work and then ended up submitting the article to Photo Technique Magazine. They had received another article from photographer Stan Patz in New York, who does different types of studio Light Painting, and they decided to dedicate an issue to show the extreme differences in Light Painting.

LPP ∇ Wow that is sooo cool you help out a random student in Norway and you end up in Photo Technique Magzine! When will it be out?

MR ∇ It is the Jan/Feb issue of Photo Technique and should be on its way to subscribers and newsstands as we speak.

LPP ∇ Are these the first light painting images you have had published?

MR ∇ Not the first, I had a few images published in a Photo magazine in France as well. This one has a much larger circulation though I think which is really exciting!

LPP ∇ How many copies are you gonna buy?

MR ∇ LOL I think at least 10 of them!

LPP ∇ I would clear the rack….. Well congratulations on all your much deserved success, where can people find your book, “LIGHT PAINTING PHOTOGRAPHY – A Complete How To Guide for Beginners” and where can they find out more information about taking some classes at the Little Photo School?

MR ∇ The book is available both on my personal website at http://www.mrossphoto.com/wordpress32/ebooks/ and the Little Photo School website as well which is located at http://www.littlephotoschool.com/

LPP ∇ Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions now get back to work….