HERE COME THE SWIRLS

Mike Harris shows you how to use a torch, some string and coloured filters to 'paint' mesmerising geometric patterns

- Mike Harris

The uninitiated might assume that light painting HOUR is simply post-production trickery, when, in actual fact, light painters are constantly pushing the envelope and redefining what can be achieved in-camera. The light-painting community is so inventive that it can be hard to know where to start - and getting started is what this fun project is all about.

By suspending a tiny beam of light on a piece of string and setting it into a swinging motion, you can create incredible geometric patterns in the comfort of your own home. What makes this an ideal first light painting project is that it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Just one light source can create clean but complex trails of light, or you can experiment with various colours and beams to form incredible deep-spacelike masterpieces.

If you have a torch and a means to condense the light (thick tape or black paper will do), you can create your own DIY light beam, and if you have any gels lying around you can even change its colour too. However, a huge array of dedicated light-painting equipment is also available.

We got our hands on Light Painting Brushes' Universal Connector. The advantage of this system is that it allowed us to quickly swap out light sources on the fly so that we could layer light trails of various shapes, sizes and colours during the same exposure. To find out more about Light Painting Brushes, visit www. lightpaintingbrushes. com or UK stockist www.rigu.co.uk.

A few simple bits of kit will help to make light painting a breeze

1 UNIVERSAL CONNECTOR