The Art of Visuals: How to Photograph Neon Lights
Lights of blue and green caressed her cheek, bathing her skin in an overpowering glow of neon. I ducked behind a fence wrapped in Christmas lights and grabbed some images through the twinkling bars. On this late Sunday night, the cold slipped beneath my coat, sneaking up my arms and down the back of my neck, but the light was beautiful, and the night was worth it.
Shooting at night has always been difficult for me. I still have trouble when I'm taking photos of the stars and need to focus on distant objects, or figuring lighting methods when shooting portraits.
Some people have a knack for it, and others need to work hard, learning every chance they can get.
On this particular shoot, I brought all of the knowledge I had to the front of my mind, and kept my mind open to learn more.
Neon Lights
I met my friend and fellow photographer Jung outside of a Stacks in Albany. I had arrived early, and to ward off the chill of the night I sat inside, nursing a hot chocolate and watching people stroll past the window.
He brought a few friends and models with him, and we moved down Lark Street, lined with small shops, cafes, and bars; a neon light paradise.
The shoot started in front of a wine store, with our model, Lauren, standing with her back to the glass and to the neon sign. This was a bit of an oversight on my part, because if there hadn't been lights over her head or in the window beside her, her face would have been in shadow.
As with most photography (as I'm sure you don't need me telling you but for the sake of my blog), but especially with shoots in the dark, make sure that a part or all of the models face is facing a light source. You can sometimes make it work without, but when neon lights are bleeding into part of the model, it can make edits tough as I found out.
The next spot we went to was out front of a café (The Daily Grind I think...). This time around, when I took photos I positioned Lauren better. I had her one side of her face towards the neon lights as she stared into the camera.
It can be tough finding creative shots that haven't already been used on Instagram. It can be all about the angles. For instance, some of my favorite shots were abandoning the tactics I mentioned above, and taking a step back.
As I described in the intro to the blog, I used a fence adorned with lights to set an interesting foreground. It's good to try out new things, to find inspiration in your location and from that moment and not just from another photographers work.
Twinkle Lights
We moved down to a small park along the Hudson to try out light painting techniques. I had never really tried to work with string lights before (that's a lie I have and failed and regretted it), so I tried it out.
It can be tough finding creativity to shoot photos using props that start Instagram fads, but I tried to add a bit of my own style to it. Find a new way to use the prop, or a new angle to shoot so that your photos don't fade into the background of so many others images.
The images, when put together, I feel add a perspective to the moment, to the night. It is more of a reminder than a artistic expression.
Light painting can be incredibly difficult to succeed it. I have seen so many boring or overused images of light painting that I have been almost turned off to it. It doesn't help that most of my attempts are straight from amateur hour.
Some artists like Eric Pare manage to turn a simple, and sometimes underwhelming image into something truly amazing.
Ending the Night
As I drove home that night, jamming out to music while the heat was on full blast, I came to the conclusion that I still am a total rookie. Shooting at night, and finding new ways to shoot neon lights can be tough. It takes a lot of thought before and during the shoot to turn an image into a masterpiece.
Everyone has so much to learn, me especially.
Keep practicing, keep grinding. The more you shoot things that you aren't good at, that make you frustrated, the better your photography will become.