Russell & Hannah: Aerial Light Painting
When light-painter Russel Klimas, a regular partner in the Eddy Sound Lighting Lab, mentioned to us that he knew and worked with an aerialist before, the gears immediately started turning. The idea of a graceful and beautiful aerialist under our Lighting Lab truss structure, surrounded by lights and lasers, was exactly what we were looking for. It’s creatives like Russell who help take our modest set-up to the next level. It’s the combination of grace, strength, persistence, and creativity that takes the output of the Lighting Lab to the next level. The synergy of creatives is what makes us great.
“The aerial hoop (also known as the lyra, aerial ring or cerceau/cerceaux) is a circular steel apparatus (resembling a hula hoop) suspended from the ceiling, on which circus artists may perform aerial acrobatics. It can be used static, spinning, or swinging.”
Hannah Bowlby was our aerialist and model for the evening. Hannah was a professional dancer for 15 years before she fell in love with flying. She began training as an aerialist 5 years ago and never came back to the ground. Hannah specializes in Lyra, or aerial hoops, but as we found out, she can also do some amazing things with silks. “I will try just about any apparatus or daredevil act.” Other dauntless activities she partakes in include cliff climbing, riding horses, and teaching yoga. “I live everyday with blind faith ready for the next adventure,” Hannah told us.
Hannah showed off her insane skills and strength under the Lighting Lab that evening, suspending herself in unimaginable poses and positions for minutes at a time, while Russell performed his usual light painting magic behind her. With Hannah’s grace and Russell’s artistic eye, the end results speak for themselves. Not only were we impressed with the end product, but the chemistry between the two and their drive to get the perfect image was remarkable to watch. They always wanted to one up the previous shot, no matter how many tries it took. It is for all these reasons that we have been privileged to work with them a number of times after this evening. Hint; there’s more to come!
An inside look at light painting in the #LightingLab:
Interested in understanding exactly how light painting works? Check out this Vlog Russell put together while shooting in our shop. It’s a great behind the scenes look at how these amazing photographs are created. A photo gallery showing the final photographs can be found below.
Connect with Russell through the channels below.
