Harold is a professional photographer based in Pennsylvania. He graduated with a degree in Fine Art Photography from MICA, in Baltimore, in 1978, and after graduation, producing fine art, taught photography at college level for several years. He opened his commercial studio in 1987, and for almost 30 years, light painting has been the only method of lighting that he has employed. (He refers to his process as “Sculpting with Light”).

During that time, Harold has been creating distinctive work in the studio and at locations (such as museums), as well as in the night landscape. He also teaches workshops in light painting and regularly gives lectures on his work and process.

Harold’s large scale colour work has been exhibited, published and collected in the U.S. and internationally, in several publications such as, Photo China Magazine, the Italian magazine Progresso Fotografico and the Ukrainian magazine Ukraine Photographer. In his homeland, his work was featured in LensWork #93 and #121, The New York Times LENS blog, and Professional Photographer Magazine, amongst others. In 2011, Harold was invited to participate in an exhibition of landscape photography in Inner Mongolia, China along with 10 other American and 20 Chinese photographers. He was also chosen as one of four photographers to exhibit in the inaugural FRESH 2011, at Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.

Harold lives in Lancaster County, PA, where he produces photographic work and teaches workshops in his process.

The Cambo Wide RS is my go-to camera for night landscapes and location work. The small size, quick levelling and set-up, shift movements, as well as the terrific quality of the wide angle lenses are a big plus. Absolute stability is required, and the Cambo fits the bill.

All of my photographs are made with light painting, and with a process and workflow that I developed called “Sculpting with Light”. I make multiple long exposures using Capture One (tethered) while painting the light onto the subject(s). This special method of lighting reveals information about the subject that isn’t clearly seen under normal lighting conditions. In other words, the depth, dimension and texture of these subjects is enhanced by my particular lighting techniques. These separate captures are then blended together using special masking techniques in Photoshop to create the final image.

I shoot a variety of subjects within my areas of interest, and my work is currently organised into several portfolios; Night (Landscapes shot at night), Still (still life work), Forged (images of things that were made by hand, in dedication to the people that used their hands to create the tools and machines of our past), Shopcraft (Similar to Forged, but concentrating on the places where people worked), Biltmore House (a standalone project of images made at The Biltmore House, America’s largest private residence), and Oil Cans (images of vintage oil cans).

In addition to Capture One and Photoshop, I also use X-Rite’s i1 Pro 2 and iPublish software for colour management.

Harold Ross – Sculpting with Light Seminars” (this is ideal for exhibitions and open day trade talks)
“I am available to speak at open days and trade exhibitions about my work and the Sculpting with Light process”
Harold Ross – “Sculpting with Light Photography training” (this is ideal for interior, still life and cultural heritage photographers) “My training programme takes you through the complete process of Sculpting with Light”