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LED Light Paintings By Darren Pearson

Posted by Richard Clarke on 24th Jun 2013

                  Octopus - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson

San Diego based artist and photographer Darren Pearson, has practiced something called light painting since 2008 – and it is pretty spectacular.

Going by the alias ‘Darius Twin’, Pearson uses LED lights to create these squiggly light paintings, depicting skeletal figures of people, animals and angels.

Taken at various locations across Pasadena, California, he captures the images using a long exposure setting on his camera.

Snake - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson

So how exactly does he create these stunning pieces?

He starts by finding a secluded location – an empty highway, a field or an abandoned factory; the quieter the better, though can prove to be harder than it sounds sometimes.

“Finding a cool spot without ambient light or sketchy night-people. In Los Angeles, that’s a tall order!” said Pearson.

Once an interesting location has been found, he stands in front of the camera and quickly traces an image through the air. The camera captures his movements, transforming them into bright streaks of light.

Dinosaur - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson

This, perhaps less surprisingly, presents its own challenges – he must work quickly to avoid appearing in the images himself. “I work fast, finishing a whole image in around 6 minutes” explains Pearson.

“If I stand still for too long I will appear on the long exposure and ruin everything, meaning I have to start again. Sometimes, it can take me 15 attempts to get it looking exactly how I want.”

His setup usually consists of a Canon 7D, Canon 580ex Speedlite, tripod, flashlights, coloured keychain lights, electric wire, plastic gels and prism glasses.

Check out the video below to see how exactly Pearson creates his light art. You can check out all his latest work on his Flickr page, and on dariustwin.com.

In the mean time, we’ve got some sample of his stunning work after the video for you to check out.

Elephant - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson

Angel - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson

Camping - LED Light Painting By Darren Pearson