Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirk Edwards.
Kirk, please kick boff for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Working in the film business as a location audio mixer I have always been around cameras and cameramen. Always bugging them in between scenes with questions about why they chose a certain framing, or ISO, or aperture. My father was also a photographer, so photography was always kind of in the periphery. So it was only a matter of time before I picked up a camera myself and started to play around. I guess it was around the time my wife and I just had our first son and I was starting to get the creative itch. Between a 9am-6pm work schedule and playing with the kiddo after work, the only time I had to myself to scratch that itch was at night after wife and baby went to bed. So I needed a hobby that I could do at night and one that didn’t make a lot of noise. Light painting was the obvious choice.
What is light painting? Well up until a couple of years ago I had absolutely zero knowledge about long shutter photography, but I had seen a couple of cool shots that a friend of mine took where he swirled a sparkler around while his shutter was open and I thought it looked interesting. Eventually, I started to search for info about long exposures with lights and the term light painting kept popping up. My first “aha” moment was when I refined my search to “light painting.” That’s when everything opened up for me. One of the first links I came across was a guy named Jason Page of lightpaintingbrushes.com. Jason has a whole line of light painting tools that he invented and sells online along with some great “How To” tutorials. I was instantly intrigued and bought one of his starter kits. The rest, as they say, is history.
When I first started light painting I knew that I wanted to learn as much as I could very quickly. So I made a promise to myself to get the camera out at least every other night to experiment with different lighting tools and techniques. I stuck to this for about six months or so. I would just use any inanimate object lying around the house and try to make an interesting image out of it. I was having some decent success, but I eventually got bored of this and went on Instagram to look for more inspiration. That’s when I discovered a light painter named Eric Pare who was doing portraiture combined with light painting. This was “aha’ moment number two. Eric is the inventor of the light tube technique where he takes his go-to model, Kim Henry, to beautiful locations all over the world and creates absolutely stunning images using only a few different colored tubes and some high powered flashlights. He also has a ton of great tutorials on how to use his method, so I had no excuse not to try it myself. So try I did.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
At first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted my style to be, but I knew I wanted to focus on women of strength and confidence. After all, the female form is the most beautiful creation on the planet so why not create imagery that highlights that. My sister-in-law, Darla Jenkins Bergner, who is a former model and yoga instructor seemed to be the obvious choice as a subject (and I knew she’d probably do it for free) so I hit her up, and she agreed to be my guinea pig. I did a few shoots with her and her friend, Taylor Matus (another yogi), and was blown away by the awesome poses they were coming up with. For me, I just tried to use my lights in a way that complimented the poses. The challenge with a long exposure is that your subject needs to be completely still, so he/she doesn’t look blurry in the final image. It’s a tricky process but here’s how it works. I compose the shot then get behind the model, the model/models get into their pose and say “go” when they’re good and still. Next, I open the shutter with a remote trigger, swirl my lights around, then close the shutter. It’s a lot of moving parts and not every image is going to be perfect, but when you nail, it’s pretty awesome. I really dig the challenge and also the collaborative aspect of it.
Another cool side note is that I am technically in every image. You can’t see me because I am wearing black and I am always moving, but I am there in every image like a photo-bombing ghost. For someone who hates being in front of a camera, this is an added bonus.
What people should know about my images is that the light effects are done in camera. This is especially fun for the models because they get to see the effects immediately. They don’t have to wait weeks or months for the photographer to edit the image. I will occasionally bring an image into Photoshop to play around with it if I think it needs a little extra love. For example, for my flame effect, I like to take a smudge tool to the tips of the light shape to make it look more realistic, but even then I am not adding any information. Just manipulating what was already captured in camera. I don’t use Photoshop much, but when I do, I try to make it hard to tell where the in-camera effect stops and the Photoshop begins. For the majority of my images though I am only adjusting brightness, contrast, color, and other general qualities as far as the editing goes.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
I’ve had a ton of luck just hitting up people that I have met via Instagram. Also, there are lots of photography groups on Facebook where photographers, models, and makeup artists are constantly looking for people to collaborate with. The app “Meetup” is another good source for artists to connect. Lots of options out there.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
For now, the only place to see my work is on Instagram. A website is in the works but not completed yet. My friends keep encouraging me to try to get into some galleries, but I’m not sure I’m ready to open myself up to that kind of criticism just yet, lol. Someday though.
As far as how you can support me I am always available for private sessions and love collaborating with new people.
Contact Info:
- Address: Dallas/Fort Worth
- Website: www.kirkae.com (coming soon)
- Email: kirk@kirkae.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/_kirkae
Image Credit:
Darla Jenkins Bergner, Roxanna Redfoot, Jasmin Jain, Jana Edwards, Jennifer Fabiyanic, Shannon Jones, John and Stephanie Thompson
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
