I have always wanted to try out some new lights in my Light Painting workshops, that could allow one to play with the patterns formation. One fine day in the supermarket I spotted these Made in China multiple LED lights that were rechargable. It was being sold as Rechargabe Emergency Lights. They were available in different varieties, namely 10 LED, 20 LED, and 42 LEDs too. And I knew instantly that I needed to try these out! I bought a couple 42 LED ones. They were white lights, but the use of colored paper allowed me to explore the other light sources as well.

Exploring New Lights

And I was right. The patterns were sharp and just as I had expected. Even though the lights cost me a bit high, I was willing to take the risk to try it out. It did not work out well in the first workshop that I used it, but in the second workshop that I asked the participants to use it, the results were wonderful.

What Simple Cellophene Paper can do

And again the month of February had people drawing more hearts. The interesting part of this was that this was a pattern formation here.

Colored Hearts

Red Silhoutte

I am out to NIT Surat next, and am hoping that the participants there would be able to take up the challenge and try it out more and come up with something more wonderful!

The hit so far has been the ‘Light Painting Workshop’ and I am really glad that the participants like it. Their feedback after the workshops has been very positive and it motivates me more. I think that the best part about workshops is the fact that you get to share knowledge with people. This feeling is so satisfying that nothing can be compared to it. It is also knowing that the person you are teaching could end up being better than you in the art you are teaching. But I think that is more of an honor to the teacher than a threat.

Hand Patterns

I have been observing the participants and the creativity that they showcase is absolutely wonderful. Every workshop ends up in something out of the box. With more and more ideas floating around, I am able to guide the participants to a larger extent to execute their ideas. This has resulted in their works improving drastically and also the possibility of thinking beyond.

This not only gives us some really wow pictures, but also inspires me as a photographer to increase the efforts in each workshop.

College Love

After taking the Volvo to Surathkal, I landed one early morning in front of the gates of the college. The college campus is divided into two parts by the National Highway # 17. On one side is the main building, the auditoriums, the hsotels. The other side of the campus has the guest houses, the newer departments, and hold your breath… the private beach. Yes you read it right! NITK Surathkal, happens to be one of the only two colleges in the world that has its own private beach.

Perhaps the only thing that I did not like was the humid weather, due to the sea. But I think if one had to stay there for a longer time, one would get used to it and remain cool always

One for the classic pose

The workshop at NIT Surathkal was wonderful. I was amazed at the kind of ideas that the participants came up with. I show a lot of images in my workshops. (Of course that is what you would do in a photography workshop). This has led to an interesting thing in my workshops. The students always aim to do something that is not shown to them. So there is always something new that comes out of the workshop.

Evolution

Inspite of the overlap towards the left of the frame, I was happy with this shot. The

Devi Avatar

There are many ways to create a Light Painting, and this is another of it. During my workshop, I give a practical demonstration of how to do each and every one of it, and during the practical sessions, ensure that the participants try them out. In my opinion, this is the aspect of the workshop that makes it a hit. Allowing people with hands on experience themselves.

The Singer and his Audience

I thought this guy must have been a vocalist himself, or in love with music. The interesting part was that they got this in the first attempt, and I was impressed with the whole idea.

Vortex Patterns

Many of the participants end up lost, and do not know what to make. So the way out for them is to have them create interesting patterns out of the lights that are provided to them!

The Proposal

This is one shot you generally expect and are not surprised by. College kids always end up making themes related to love. Note how the person on the right is actually a boy, but in the painting (the outline), it is a girl ! Did you see the ponytail of the hair? Talk about Improvisation!

Passion is Football

Oh I love this shot! Simple, taken in one stroke, but looks so wonderful. Just shows the passion that the person had towards the game. This is another thing I stress on in my workshops. Paint things that you are passionate about, or love to do.

Kicking Oneself

And sometimes, that passionate things could also be just to Kick yourself! Super Simple.. Still very creatively done!

Psychedelic

I am not sure what the participants tried creating here, but it looked like the person on the right is a god like creature, emanating light all around him, and the people on the left are seeking his blessings or something.

Hand Patterns

In the end, I was very happy with the outcome of the workshop. At the end I asked the organizers, what the feedback about the workshop was. They mentioned that all the participants loved the workshop.

I feel glad.

Thank you NITK Surathkal, for providing me the opportunity to conduct this workshop at your college.

The last one was held at NIT Trichy.

And the workshop at the Pragyan 2009 festival was a great success.

Sample Shot from the Workshop

We had three sessions of four hours each and over 150 students. The feedback was good and mostly people wanted more time with the practical.

Watch this space for announcement for other workshops.

Please Click below for more information.

Light Painting Workshop at Pragyan 2009

This is on the lines of the workshop that was conducted in the Infosys Bangalore campus.

The details about these can be found in the Workshops section.

I was on this hiatus and not being able to conduct more of these workshops, but hopefully I will be able to do more of these after May.