Light Painting and the "Dragan" Effect

There is a style of image that is circulating around. So called "Light Painting" or if you prefer, "The Dragan Effect". I don't agree with calling it the latter. He did not invent this style of editing per say, he made it his own. While I do not agree with the majority of his personal philosophy, I do like some of the images that he has created. So with the "How the hell did you do that?" curiosity that has guided me through life, I set out to learn it. There are at least two effective ways to do this by hand, and several precooked action scripts that will more or less automate the process. I have tried every method that I could find, and there are only two that seem to work 100%. I have not gotten all of the kinks out yet, but when I do, you can bet that I am going to post a tutorial on how to do it. I had to look for two days just to find enough information to get this image done. I have been working on it for the last three hours. This is a method that involves a lot of time and effort, but the rewards are well worth it. Happy Halloween All!


Click on the Images to get the full effect. They don't look quite right small.