Photographer Anders Ericksson, Sweden.

A combination of several photographs, Anders Eriksson creates a ‘magical’ moment of light. The bulb was shot alone in order to get the edge lighting exactly right. A strip light was used to light either side and then the two sides of the bulbs were combined with bulb lit from in front by fill cards (see base of lamp). The hand was shot separately as was the fiery tungsten burning inside the bulb. A background with a single spray light for gradient was added behind the composite to give it depth.

Takeaways:

The creative conception of an image can lead to many ways of creating it. Anders ‘saw’ this image in his head and then began to assemble the needed tools to make it happen. He discovered that it was easier to assemble two halves of the light than to shoot it with two lights, and creating the image he saw was now a matter of assembly.

Assignment:

See how you can do with this shot. Think it through. You must have a tripod and be able to match items up in Photoshop. That means attention to detail, angle and repeatability is paramount. How many different images will you use to create your “bulb”?