Vintage Croquet Set (time lapse video)
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My good friend (and fellow light painter) John Corcoran gave me a gorgeous (and quite old) croquet set. Some of you may remember this game, which is played on a grass lawn. The challenge was to hit the ball (through “wickets” made of wire) with mallets.
This picture (by Alice Austen, a pioneering woman photographer who worked in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s) shows us that croquet was very popular well over 100 years ago!
I remember playing this quite often as a kid, and our family owned a set like the one John gave me. I love to photograph objects that carry personal memories for me, so I had to do so with this croquet set.
Proper use of light painting gives us tremendous depth, shape and color! The color in this image was not modified; just white balanced.
Color is just one advantage of using a very small light. Small lights are inherently quite hard and unattractive, but by using them properly, we make them look as soft as a large light.
This is the essence of Sculpting with Light; we get the advantages of both a large light (beautiful soft shadow-to-highlight transitions) and a small light (surgical application, tremendous depth and texture, and great color). This is the only method that gives us the best of both worlds.
When we use the light properly, we are literally sculpting the object by controlling how the light defines the shape.
Part of this thought process is to use the light from an angle that gives us depth, shape and texture.
I made a quick (VERY quick) little time lapse video for my Instagram account, and thought I’d share it in the blog here for those that don’t follow me on Instagram. It shows me light painting the croquet set, and below that is the final result.
Photograph by Harold Ross
If you want to learn all about my process, and how to make images using it, consider attending one of my Light Painting Workshops, seen HERE.
What do past workshop attendees think? See their testimonials HERE.
Harold Ross Fine Art Photography 
Love it.
Thanks Brian!
Hello ! Love the painting I am using it to restore the set I have is the same one in your picture:) not sure how old they are but if you have any info on the croquet set send it my way . Thanks so much .
Hello Richard! Thank you for your kind comment. It’s actually not a painting but a photograph using light painting, which Harold has been doing as his main method of photography for over 30 years. Light painting can have the look of a painting, however! We don’t have any information on the set, but should we happen to come upon anything, we will pass it along. Thanks for reaching out! Kind regards, Vera Ross
Ok thank you ! It is a beautiful picture keep up the good work :) keep in touch if you ever sell it I am interested. Rich Zandstra.
Will do Rich. Good luck with your restoration!