Assignment 3: Painting with light

Photographer Inspiration: Michael Ross

         A photographer that has inspired me this six weeks was a light photographer, Michael Ross. He is a part time photographer along with being a part time musician, artist, car enthusiast and wood worker. Along with all of that he is also a full time I.T. Executive. He currently lives in Plano, Texas and has for about 40 years. His interest in photography began at an early age when his uncle taught him. He has been taking photos ever since. He is a solo photographer but he loves to help people improve their photos. He has written a book called “Light Painting Photography- A Complete How To Guide for Beginners” that teaches people new to light photography how to take amazing images.

In his photos, he uses bright colors and lights to get the perfect image. I really enjoy these photos but what inspired me the most were his more abstract light photos. I loved looking at the photos and wanted to try it. I loved experimenting with the lights and moving them in different ways to get an image. On Ross’s website he says, “Photography has taught me to see things that might otherwise go unnoticed”. This also inspired me to look at everything as an option for a good photo. When I first started photography it was really hard for me to find things to take pictures of but now I find great photo opportunities in the weirdest things.

This past six weeks I have been experimenting a lot more with light photography and I love the outcome of the images. My images aren’t exactly like Michael Ross’s but they have the same concept. His images inspired me to experiment with something I haven’t done much of before. I have done some light painting photography in the past but I would like to try and get better images this time. I want to use different things to get the images I want.

I like taking more abstract photos like these rather than more posed photos of people. I like the freedom of abstract photos and how much you can do with a camera and lights. When I look at his images I am amazed by how he got the images and how much time it took for him to get the perfect images.

Overall I think it would be really cool if eventually I could take images kind of like his. I really like his images but I would want to take more abstract images with super bright colors and a lot of colors.

Assignment 2: Point and Shoot

I used a tripod and just took random pictures as if I was pointing and shooting. I also moved the zoom in and out with a slow shutter speed to make it more random.