The Big Shot was begun in 1987 by two Rochester Institute of Technology professors. Michael Peres and William W. DuBois thought that this might be a unique educational strategy to get students more excited about using portable flash techniques. The Big Shot utilizes painting-with-light to teach valuable real-life lessons about the logistics of a major shoot.

With roots dating back to the 1950's when Sylvania Electric Products produced a painting-with-light project and called it "The Big Shot," these images are taken at night, of different large structures. Each image literally represents the work of dozens, if not hundreds, of people working together to create each exposure.

The project now consists of fourteen images, the two most recent being a night shot of an aircraft carrier harbored in New York City, and a photograph of the historic Alamo in Texas.