Photographer Martin Kimbell shows he is a real bright spark with these spectacular light drawings, which use the night sky as his canvas. Credit: artin Kimbell/Solent News & Photo Agency
Photographer Martin Kimbell shows he is a real bright spark with these spectacular light drawings,
which use the night sky as his canvas. The 25-year-old from Nottingham, England, used a special technique to create
the intricate spirals, which look like they were created on the 1960s toy Spirograph.
Spinning LED hoop used in photograph
The images include a ribbon of white lights, which meander among the trees, and a tornado-like beam. Kimbell creates the pictures using long exposure photography, which involves leaving the camera shutter open for up to an hour. Kimbell throws a spinning hoop fixed with LED lights into the air, and waits while its path is captured on the film.
Photographer’s viewpoint
“What I love about light painting is that it gives me a level of control and creative freedom which is rare in most forms of photography. Through the adding of different light patterns, or by illuminating it differently, I can completely transform the scene,” says Kimbell.
By the numbers: 1
The longest time it takes Kimbell to finish one of his long exposure photographs is one hour. It can take as little as 30 seconds to create one of his light art creations. Kimbell said: “The times can greatly vary. The light patterns themselves do not typically take a great deal of time, but illuminating and exposing the rest of the scene can.”
