Playing with fire - lightpainting with burning steel wool

in Lightpainters United4 years ago (edited)

Those new to lightpainting tend to post numerous shots of burning steel wool, spinning circles all over the place and they get many 'likes' on 'regular' social media. I avoid the popularity contest like the plague and do my own thing.

This was shot in an abandoned building using a small amount of steel wool on drill:

Playingwithfire.jpg

We aim to lightpaint to stand out from the crowd. This is one I made earlier with @fadetoblack using a camera rotation device to spin the camera as the sparks flew on a drill:

Orderlychaosrfs.jpg

I realised lately I use the camera rotation technique quite a bit with steel wool:

Convexnightsrfs.jpg

With this one I placed a cardboard tube over the lens to mask off the sparks and lit the rest of the scene without the tube:

MannequinofOCD.jpg

This was one shot in a building full of grafitti using a cheap (very cheap) umbrella:

SavingScorpionrfs.jpg

Please note for the record, we are experienced lightpainters and take precautions against the fire hazard and only shoot in non-flammable spaces. The sparks are only alight for a brief second, the shutter on the camera being open for a longer time records the light trail left behind! Don't try this yourself unless you are confident you know what you are doing and taken adequate precautions!!

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/

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Awesome photos! These are quite unique steel wool shots!

 4 years ago  

Thanks @monist always striving for unique :-)

Excellent shots as always. You must have a very relaxed temperament, more than me anyway, I would get so frustrated if things didn't pan out. And that building in the first shot, wow.

 4 years ago  

Thanks Brian, like a graceful swan but paddling like mad under the water lol.... I tend to experiment with something and if it isn't working, I change it or scrap it altogether, no point in wasting valuable dark!