On a cold winters night, in a funky warehouse in Port Adelaide, I joined over a hundred other people to hear Denis Smith talk about his passion for photography and light painting. It was one of the most enjoyable workshops I have attended and Denis must be congratulated for being so generous in sharing his insights, passion and techniques for creating his amazing images.
It was standing room only at the Forge Creative Warehouse in Port Adelaide and one of the largest camera collections I've seen outside of a commercial exhibition.
Denis started the presentation talking about his development as a photographer and the reasons that he is driven to create the images he does. From recollections of a lonely vigil on a moonlight night in the Wilpena Pound to sharing the experiences of Mungo Lake with an indigenous guide he had some great stories to tell.
After some technical tips and introduction to his array of light painting tools, some of which can be bought for a song at Ikea to the most powerful, and I assume expensive, flashlight I've ever seen Denis got down to demonstrating his craft. His first demonstration was, of course, his "Ball of Light". I'd often wondered how he managed to create the effect precariously perched on the edge of cliffs and other dangerous spots and I was thrilled to not only see how he does it, but to capture it in what I think may be the first 360˚ panorama to feature the "Ball of Light".
Denis followed it up with an amazing collection of light painting and some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen. I've featured some of the effects, hat Denis produced in about an hour, in the following gallery.
