Rainey Creek Chuck Wagon

by Steve Templeton

Title

Rainey Creek Chuck Wagon

Artist

Steve Templeton

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

This light painting of Rainey Creek's competition chuck wagon might be the most detailed one I have ever done because of the very numerous elements in it that were lit with a very small hand-held flashlight. (Blow up the image, and look at all the pieces & parts! They get judged on the detail and originality of the wagon as well as their food!) The owner had set up this rig, and cooked chicken-fried steak, beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits,gravy, and peach cobbler for a group of about 100 of us. Just a small little to-do over a campfire! And, I have to tell you, the food was "larapin!" (That's my dad's word for really, really good)

This wagon and it's owners (and their families) go to a few chuck wagon competitions every year, and this year, they won 1st prize in desserts (Peach Cobbler), and 2nd or 3rd in beans! If you ever get a chance to visit one of these competitions, pull up a log, set yourself down, and chow down on some larapin' old fashioned trail cooking!

A little history: The chuck wagon was invented by Colonel Charles Goodnight, a cattleman who, in 1866, along with his partner, Oliver Loving, prepared to drive a herd of 2,000 longhorns from Texas to Colorado. It would be a long, dangerous trek in rough country without the convenience of stopping at many towns along the route.

A Light Painted photograph is created in total darkness. The photographic artist takes a
series of images of any three-dimensional subject, (a car, architecture, musical instruments,
airplanes, collections, etc.) from the same vantage point with the camera mounted on a
tripod. Only a small portion of the subject is illuminated with special handheld LED
flashlights in each individual photograph. (Some light paintings may require up to 200 or
more images!) Painting of the subject with the flashlights continues, until the desired areas
of the subject have been completely exposed with varying amounts of light on separate exposures.

All of the resulting exposures are blended together and perfected by hand in a software
program that, when combined with the creative vision of the artist, creates a one-of-a-kind
photographic work of art that reveals a dimension of photography never before seen.

The photo shoot or Light Painting can take anywhere from one to three hours, and the client
is encouraged to be present and participate if desired, in order to foster an understanding
and deeper appreciation of the process involved in creating the unique and amazing image.
When completed, the Light Painting may be printed and framed like any normal photograph,
but the most pleasing result is obtained by printing a high-gloss image on aluminum. The
process of transferring the image onto the metal produces a visual treat that frequently gets
described as stunning, and the print is certain to always be a topic of conversation!

Uploaded

June 1st, 2022

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