David Cobb's Cosmos

Sean, this is really cool. I only wonder if you could tone down the bright areas of the rocks on the right hand side.

for one - yes, it looks cool.
but I have to get this of my chest:
much of that lightpainting images that have sprung up lately have one distracting thing in common, imo: the lit rocks look like as they were photographed in daylight and it just doesn't fit in with the sky. its technically done real well but the night-mood gets lost. they look rather synthetic. not much different than when they would have been sandwiched. I mean the idea is great, but I think there is much room for improvement, since you seem to have the tech-part down to a science anyways. I mentioned it someplace else, that I feel if its just done to show off the effect, it will be a shortlived fashion, that will loose interest in the viewers world pretty fast. your photography in general is quite the oposite - very captivating - thats why I mention it. (and because most everyone else will find it cool)
georg

A striking image Sean, this is very well done, the colour contrast is perfect. I do think Georg has an interesting point about light painting though.

Thanks for the feedback Georg. Certainly a well placed comment and good food for thought. I agree with you that light painting doesn't look natural, but I don't have any restrictions on my photography about only photographing in natural light. I love photographing night cityscapes just for all the great effects city lighting provides. Perhaps it's the surreal, unnatural look that provides some of the fun. The technique (mine anyway) can certainly be refined and improved, as you say. My approach is pretty crude. I'm not sure if I have any real goal or ambition with night photography other than to do something different and extend the usable photography hours in a day. Other than my lunar eclipse image and some urban night photography I don't think I have sold or licensed much in the way of photographs taken at night (light painted or not), so it isn't the promise of cashing in on a fad. Sometimes it's just fun to go out on a clear night and experiment with the camera and see what happens. I shared this image mostly because I thought getting David to stand still for 30 seconds was an accomplishment in itself. You have motivated me to keep refining the technique to find ways to get even better results.

...it may also be interesting to note that a good deal of the light on the left portion of the rocks is natural moonlight.

its what I mean - no problem with night photography at all - but in daylight photography you would like to make it look natural, not kind of artificial, too, wouldn't you? I don't think you try to cash in on sg, but the usual comments are and and to all light painting images that seem to be in focus or show sg recognizeable. i just wanted to give some other opinion, too, especially since I believe, you belong to those talents, who could take it further. the lunar eclipse fe is quite remarkable. (and will not be duplicated soon) thats all I mean. yes to stand 30sec still like David, is quite remarkable. maybe he felt asleep?
georg

Really nice result. Light painting can give surreal results, but it is quite interesting when it is well managed.

D&L

Excellent job on the light painting, and him holding still! Also a good job on the star exposure and processing.

To me this is lighting painting done well (even though yes I am sure there are other ways to do it) and the image overall is excellent IMO. David does add to it here so his efforts were worth it. Very nice Sean!

I thought this was a very interesting looking photograph and do not mind the light painting aspect of it. Does it look natural to me, no, but it is an interesting photograph, good comp with a strong contrast. For me, this would of worked better if the lighting on right side of the rocks matched more closely with the lighting on left side but not a show stopper by any means. It is interesting to see what others are experimenting with to stimulate ideas (although I do not have any interest in light painting) for one's own photography.

Hey, I didn't know I was posted here! Congrats on the EP Sean and also photographing for the shear fun of it. Verena and Georg, I did fall asleep - it was my 83rd birthday so I can do that.

David M. Cobb

I think this is very creative and makes me want to experiment with light painting sometime. Congrats on the EP!

The colors are rich here. Well composed and planned.