Behind the Scenes of Viral Light Painting Photography & Animation

Behind the Scenes of My Most Viral Light Painting Images & Videos

Over the years, some of my light painting photographs and animated videos have taken on a life of their own - being shared millions of times across social platforms. In this post, I wanted to pull back the curtain and share a behind-the-scenes breakdown of several of my most viral light painting creations, how they were made, and what kept me pushing through the long nights to bring them to life.

With Christmas just a few days away, it feels fitting to start with one of my personal favorites.

The Grinch Stealing Christmas (December 2022)

This Grinch light painting - featuring his loyal accomplice Max - was created in December of 2022 and began as a fan request. Someone asked what the Grinch might look like if he were created entirely in light form, and I couldn’t resist the challenge.

The final image was actually the second capture out of three attempts. As luck would have it, the snowfall intensified so much that continuing after the third frame became impossible.

The accompanying video has since been viewed millions of times every Christmas season, with the original clip surpassing 10 million views on its own.

“Light Goes On” – The Skeleton That Changed Everything

One of my most impactful viral projects is Light Goes On, an animated light painting I originally posted to YouTube back in 2013. Years later, I shared it on Instagram, where it has now amassed over 34 million views.

The piece features a glowing light skeleton rising from the grave and skating through the streets of Los Angeles after dark.

At the time, I was working south of downtown LA, spending hours each day stuck in traffic on my commute home. Instead of zoning out, I started scouting locations along the route - parking, exploring, and eventually returning at night once winter darkness set in.

After creating many still images, I wondered: Could I animate light paintings?

It turned out to be physically exhausting - but possible.

Those early animations became an escape from traffic and a creative outlet that gave my nightly commute a new sense of purpose. Over the years, I expanded the process by introducing color, new characters, humor, and narrative storytelling - pushing light painting further than I ever imagined.

Knight vs. Dragon (June 22, 2023)

Another fan-requested piece, Knight vs. Dragon, became one of my most viral animated light paintings, reaching 8.4 million views.

Each animated project requires many hours of work, with countless long exposures - every frame painted entirely by hand, one after another. The effort is intense, but the final result makes the process worth it every time.

Experience, Time, and Viral Momentum

One recurring factor across many of my viral images and videos is the time and experience required to create them. I often reference the number of years I’ve spent practicing light painting (currently 19 years) and curate the most visually striking moments into compilation videos.

One such piece features 15 years of light skeletons performing in extreme environments and has garnered over 23 million views.

The video opens with Snowed In, an image captured during a powerful atmospheric river that buried our Southern California mountain town on February 23, 2023. Roads were closed, snowplows broke down, and access was limited for days. In places like Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe, the storm was even more devastating collapsing roofs and burying entire structures.

Alien Adventures

Shifting from montage to short animated collections, Alien Adventures became another viral success, reaching over 4 million views.

The project features aliens engaged in everyday (and not-so-everyday) activities - break dancing, biking, skateboarding, playing guitar, and throwing a frisbee. We edited the final piece to “Space Age Love Song” by A Flock of Seagulls, and it immediately resonated.

The project took roughly two months to complete and was filmed across deserts, mountains, and beaches.

Gnome Home – A Redwood Story

One of my favorite narrative light painting projects is Gnome Home, captured over the course of about a week while camping in the Redwoods with our family trailer.

The short film follows a whimsical storyline told across 10 storyboarded scenes and required over 400 individual images. The gnome lives in a redwood tree, eats a mushroom, discovers a sword, and ultimately defeats a giant carnivorous frog - quick, silly, and packed with visual storytelling.

Fiat Lux & Carpe Noctem

Finally, I want to highlight two of my most ambitious narrative projects: Fiat Lux and Carpe Noctem. Both received millions of views, and Carpe Noctem was shared by Instagram’s official Facebook account on August 8, 2025.

These projects took nearly a full year each to complete and were released in 2022 (Fiat Lux) and 2024 (Carpe Noctem). In terms of difficulty, they sit firmly at the top of my list.

They required:

• Long drives to remote locations
• Countless hours of light painting
• Extensive sound production and editing

If the lighting didn’t feel right, I went back and reshot scenes - often working under new moon conditions, when colors and characters appear most vivid.

Both films were created using a custom-designed warm LED light, the same tool used for Archangel, one of my most popular light painting prints.

Below is a rough storyboard for the Fiat Lux project:

The full collection of key frames from the Fiat Lux project can be found here.

Final Thoughts

From single-frame photographs to multi-year animated narratives, these projects represent the evolution of my light painting journey - driven by curiosity, persistence, and a love for creating something truly unique.

You can explore more of my short films and light painting work here. Thanks for joining me for this behind-the-scenes look at some of my most viral creations.