Prince George has its own sorcerer of the dark arts and he has now entered the inner coven of his profession.
Kris Foot is a professional photographer of many sorts, but he specializes in nighttime images and he has a super specialty.
Light painting is the fine art of whipping light sources in circles or various directions with the camera's aperture wide open so the background is captured, and the strings and flashes of moving light combine into eye-popping streaks and surreal shapes.
Foot found out this week he had moved on to the finals of the Spun-Ups Global Orbs tournament on Instagram. He is one of the final two in this global online event.
"All my stuff is done with tools I made myself," said Foot.
It isn't easy to explain how these preternatural images are created, but in summary, it usually takes more hardware than just a camera. The circles and spheres of light are made by putting LED lights or fire on the end of a string, then spun through the air. To make the streaks precise, the spins are mechanized. Foot has built contraptions combining propellers to spin the lights one way, but also on hinges or a fixed axis so the spinning lights can pivot and rotate in the opposite direction as well. Sometimes the tools are available on the commercial market but he has also gone the do-it-yourself route with repurposed bike wheels, ping-pong balls, steel wool set ablaze and more.
"Another way to do it is to spin by hand, which looks better, a lot of times, and it really shows you who the masters are because you have to be so, so precise in the way you spin. If you waver, that shows up as a streak off to the side," he explained.
He has learned little tricks over time, often by way of mistake.
Once, in the final image, he was invisible to the camera and the spun circles were tidy, but his shoes were unmistakably present in the shot. He now knows to wear dark clothing from head to toe, and how to keep body parts from being illuminated in ways the camera sees.
"I really like finding water, so I can double the image in the reflection," he said. "Big puddles are great. You can stand in them and get really clear reflections because the water is so still."
In addition to the tools and techniques of spinning the light sources, there is also the skill of picking compelling locations. He enjoys nothing more than wowing the audience with a cool setting, and the pleasure doubles when it exposes the definitive features of his hometown.
It led Tourism Prince George to work with Foot. He has also had his work featured on Global TV, Telus Optik TV, Hell Yeah Prince George Magazine, Closeup Magazine, Canadian Camera Magazine, and even CBC Radio.
Now the Spun-Ups attention is giving him an international reputation.
"I'm definitely on the road to recognition, and I'm really happy for light painting itself, more than anything, just having more people know what that is," he said.
"It's just what I do. I don't have a girlfriend, because I light paint. My new goal is to teach people and inspire people to try this out. The more people doing it, the more innovative the images are going to be, the more skills and knowledge gets passed around."
His main problem is collaboration. He has to go out so late at night, in the summer months, that few friends will entertain the idea of coming along for the 3 a.m. ride.
That causes a different challenge: safety. If the mosquitos don't get you, the stress of bears and cougars lurking in the shadows might.
"I take those chances, but I've had some scary moments when bears really were right there. It's just so beautiful, when you nail that photo, I think it's worth it," Foot said. "And I don't plan my outings much. I'll suddenly feel like going out there, maybe the conditions look perfect, or I just get a burst of energy, and who's up at that hour, or wants me phoning at midnight asking to go for a drive out into wherever."
Foot's work can be seen on Facebook at K.Foot Photography or on Instagram if you search for Spun-Ups Global Orbs.
