Giant Spheres Created with Light Painting

Photographer Denis Smith creates photos giant balls of light without any digital trickery, relying instead on light-painting. His technique is to spin a light around while slowly turning his body, creating spheres of light when seen in a long exposure photo.

This technique wasn’t merely an interesting discovery or a fun hobby — it saved his life. Just two years ago Smith was in a high pressure job suffering from depression, money, and alcohol problems. His life took a huge turn for the better when he discovered photography and then light painting. Photographer Sam Collins created this 15 minute documentary that shares both Smith’s life and his “Ball of Light” technique:

To see more “Ball of Light” photographs, head on over to Smith’s website.

Image credits: Photographs by Denis Smith and used with permission