Sensor Painting

"What Music Looks Like"

Paint your sensor??? Are you thinking: 'She must be crazy!!' Photography literally means 'writing (graphy) with light' (photo), and so when I refer to sensor painting, I am talking about painting or writing on it with light.

I made these images in the city of Valparaiso, Chile. I had been looking over the hills through binoculars at the dotted lights of the city and noticed the visual patterns 'written' by the lights as I moved the binoculars.

"Light Waves"

So, I asked myself..."What if I... switched to my camera with a telephoto lens and tried to permanently recreate the visual patterns I observed through the binoculars?"

"Flying Ribbons"

After playing for close to an hour, moving my camera in as many creative ways I could think of during exposure, (I am easily amused!!) I created a fun collection of 30+ images made by literally painting my sensor with pinpoints of light.

"Curly Q's"

(All images: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EOS EF 70-300mm DO IS lens, 1/5 sec. @ f 5.6, ISO 2500)

"Light Swirls"