Light Painting Like MacGyver
Here’s the story about a second cool light painting of a Bell 505 Jet Ranger Helicopter. In order to create this version, which included the owner and pilot, Mike, we ended up light painting like MacGyver!
The original plan was to create one light-painted photograph of the Bell 505. However, that turned into two light paintings during the setup of the first one. More on how that came about shortly.
The first version was created simultaneously (at least at the start), and it turned out just amazing! Here’s that stunning image:
This turned out even better than I had envisioned when I first saw the Bell 505 land on the helipad earlier in the day!
EAA AirVenture 2025
I met Mike at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this past summer. It was there that he commissioned a light painting of the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X Helicopter. This project would be created for him and his lovely wife, Regina, at their beautiful lake home on Lake Norman in North Carolina.
I was pretty pumped about this one, as it would be the first helicopter light painting for us. That, and I love the Carolinas, so I knew this had potential to turn out amazing! We set up this light painting trip so that I could create their project and another one (which turned out to be 3!) for Grover and his lovely wife, Teri, up in the Raleigh area. This would keep travel time and costs to a minimum for everyone.
Here are the links to Grover and Teri’s cool light painting projects:
Light Painting a 2000 Velocity Experimental Aircraft NB32AB (two versions, front and back).
Light Painting a 1972 Buick Skylark Convertible.
A Whole Lot is Going On!
Unfortunately, because the timing to create these projects brought them into mid-October, Joannie would not be able to go. I know she would have loved to be with me as we both love this part of the country. I also know she would have loved meeting and hanging out with both couples.
Both Grover and Mike filled in admirably for Joannie as my “camera triggers”. I want to thank them both for helping me!
Back home, we had major things going on that week. Joannie was helping out with the 50th Wedding Anniversary party for our daughter, Jen, and her husband Ben’s parents, Mark and Debbie. My return flight would have me arriving back home just a couple of hours before the party! Then, just two days later, we were off to Walt Disney World with Jen and Ben and our two oldest grandkids, Riley and Ryder!
The light painting projects all turned out fantastic, the 50th Anniversary party was awesome, and we had a fabulous time at Disney World! It was a crazy stretch for all of us, but it sure was a lot of fun too!
The Power of Suggestion
Here’s what the “MacGyver” camera was going to capture that night.
The “Main Event,” – the reason I was there in the first place, was to create a scenic version of the Bell 505, the helipad, with Lake Norman as the backdrop. For that image, the one you saw above, I went with a vertical camera orientation. I don’t create many vertical light paintings, but when I do, there’s always a good reason. This time, it was to frame the scene with the trees on their pretty property overlooking the lake. Vertical just looked better.
During the setup to light paint the Bell 505, I must have said something like, “It would be cool to have you guys in the light painting.” Well, Mike heard that and did indeed think that was a great idea (Regina, not so much. Mike would go solo on this one).
The problem with my suggestion was that, due to luggage restraints on commercial airline flights, I didn’t fly with any of my portrait gear (stobe lights, light stands, etc.). That, and for the same reason, I only flew with one tripod. If this was going to happen, there would have to be some serious improvising.
Light Painting, MacGyver Style!
To get the image framed up exactly the way we wanted it, I set up one of my Canon R5s on the only tripod I had along, literally aimed at the scene through an open window in Mike’s office!
So, when Mike liked the idea of being in the artwork, we had a decision to make. Because he would have been very small in the scenic version, we would have to either skip that idea, have Mike very tiny in the image, or set up a second camera to do a tighter version that featured Mike in the image better. I wanted the third option.
While I don’t fly with two tripods (at that time, only one of mine fit in my large suitcase), I always fly with more than one camera and lens, just in case. (As a side note, I’ve since picked up another carbon fiber tripod to travel with. A nice, compact, lightweight one that can fit in my suitcase along with the other one.)
So, Mike and I came up with a wacky setup for the second camera. We “made” a tripod using the railing on their deck and the tripod collar on my Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM Lens as the base. Then, I placed a dime underneath the tripod collar, which would tip it downward slightly, and then used painter’s tape, of all things, to hold everything in place!
It wasn’t perfect (there was a tiny bit of camera movement that was a challenge to deal with in post), but, ultimately, it did work!
Here’s what light painting, like MacGyver, looks like! We improvised a tripod by attaching our Canon R5 camera to the deck rail using the tripod collar of the RF 100-500mm lens as a base, using a coin to tip it downward slightly, and then painters tape to hold it all in place!
Light Painting and Getting Along with the Dew Point
It seemed like nearly every light painting project we created in 2025 had the same issue. The dew point. I know it wasn’t there for all of them, but it sure seemed like it! Heck, earlier in the year, we sometimes had smoke from the Canadian wildfires along with the dew point!
Well, the dew point definitely invited itself to this party. At one point, I was literally using my shirt to dry off areas of the Bell 505 just so I could lay down a layer of light with my light wand.
We initially started light painting the same parts of the Bell 505 at the same time, starting with the cockpit, using both cameras. Mike would fire the first camera that was set up (with the real tripod) and aimed through his open office window using the wireless trigger on my iPad Pro. I would make a pass with my light wand while he fired that camera. Then, a few seconds later, I would re-light the same area all over again while he would fire the second camera using a cable release that was attached to the “MacGyver’d” camera.
That did work really well for a while, but as I saw the aircraft starting to get wet with dew, I stopped using both cameras and went with the main image. If at all possible, I had to get that one; the second version would be a bonus – if it even worked at all!
Thankfully, we started with the cockpit, because after a little while, the windows were soaking wet!
Mike and I were truly light painting like MacGyver with this monkey-rigged setup!
As you can see in the final artwork below. Mike and I did indeed pull this one off! Wait until you see the images of Mike being light-painted in the Build Video down below. I cannot believe that he could hold still for that long! This was truly light painting like MacGyver!
Here’s Mike’s portrait with the Bell 505 Helicopter. What makes this portrait really unique is that Mike was actually light-painted into the images using multiple long exposures, not strobes. Mike had to be like a statue, and he was!
Another First!
I never dreamed when I arrived at Mike and Regina’s beautiful home that I would get to pilot the helicopter! The morning after the photography, Mike asked me if I would like to tag along while he took the helicopter back to the hangar. Of course, I said “Yes”!
The view of Lake Norman from the cockpit.
After take-off, I, of course, was taking stills and videos with my iPhone while on the way back. After a short time, Mike asked me if I’d like to take the stick! Even though it wasn’t for very long, it was a really cool experience! Thank you, Mike!
Mike and Mike are taking the Bell 505 out for a spin to return it to its hangar! A short time later, I would be at the controls! Very cool!
The Build Video
This was the scene the morning after. Geez, what a beautiful location!
We’ve created a short Build Video that contains the images that were used to create the Master File. It also shows it all coming together in post-production. Mike and I took 110 images for this pretty image that night (Mike was actually in eight of them!) I ended up using 51 of those, using a combination of 81 different layers in Photoshop and other programs. All were combined to complete the one-of-a-kind light-painted artwork.
Thank you, Mike and Regina!
This image is so rewarding to me in so many ways. We’ve got an amazing aircraft, the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X Helicopter. Then, there’s an absolutely beautiful location, Lake Norma in North Carolina. Mike and I built a custom tripod from random items that we improvised with. We fought off the dew point to create something truly amazing! And, lastly, another first, I light-painted Mike into the image using several long exposure passes with my light wand! Piloting the helicopter was the icing on the cake! So very cool!
Thank you, Mike and Regina, for your wonderful hospitality and for the opportunity to do what I love with your beautiful aircraft! I loved every moment of the experience, and I hope we can get together again soon! – M&J