This image is a detail from a project I’m working on in Location II. It’s lower resolution due to being closely cropped.
These light fixtures are are full of form and contrast; however if you expose for the ambient of the over scene, these become pure white without any detail pushing way beyond 255 RGB. I wanted to be able to portray a dark feel for my overall scene and thus stop down significantly using higher shutter speeds and then made additional bracketed exposures stopping down even further. This provide the raw materials I needed to be able to then overlay the darker details on top of the glowing light globes and then using different brush sizes, opacities and flow rates, I was able to reveal the glowing highlights between the forms.
This technique has got me thinking about creative ways I can include lamps into Vanitas Still Lifes. I could also see using these techniques to create interesting product images for Retail Lighting Companies.