My Father's Lighter ©Harold Ross

My father, who grew up on a farm, joined the Army at a young age to escape the challenging economic conditions that plagued many farms during that era. I believe he started smoking in the Army while stationed in Korea. He was a casual smoker but always carried a Zippo lighter in his pocket. He engraved the lighter in order to distinguish it from others, which were carried by many of the soldiers at the time. Later in life, he quit smoking, but he occasionally enjoyed a cigar, so I'm certain that he kept the lighter in his pocket for many decades. "The Relick" Zippo lighter was something I often saw when I was young. Initially, I thought he had misspelled the word "Relic," but Vera looked it up and found that there are two ways to spell it, with this being a more "archaic" yet quite acceptable spelling.

In this world of AI imagery, I've decided it would be beneficial to try to include a "behind the scenes" picture with my images. The second image, shot during the composition phase, shows just how powerful the Light Painting process can be, and how it's able to transform the ordinary into something more. 

When it comes to still life photography subject ideas, you really don't have to look terribly far or go to any great measures to find something amazing to photograph… There are amazing and beautiful things all around us!

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Creating light painted still life images is extremely rewarding, and something which I teach in great detail throughout my comprehensive Light Painting Online Video Course.

See some images that my students have produced here: Student Images, and what they are saying about my Online Course here: Student Testimonials.