Burning (Literally) Light Bulbs

[Decapolis]

Hi!

I experimented a bit (2 bulbs worth) with this idea I found HERE (http://www.leggnet.com/2007/02/spontaneous-combustion.html) today, and without further ado, here are the results:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3125/mg6257db5.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4793/mg6253mi2.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/8426/mg6258ay3.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6898/mg6252zv6.jpg

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/471/mg6259jb1.jpg

Side note: I've just joined POTN, so I probably just haven't found it yet, but is there a topic with ideas for fun projects to do inside?
The weather not being the most inspiring at this time of year...;)


Thanks for looking,
-Decapolis

[Mr B Snappy]

That looks fun!

...if there isn't such a thread there should be. Along with another of foolproof methods of getting the wife and kids out of the house.

[TekHouse]

Great shots..

[camerageorge]

Cool, I like the one with the red smoke!

[lama_duke]

That's awesome! Out of Curiosity, how did you remove the glass and leave the innards intact?

[Decapolis]

Thanks for the kind comments!:)

Lama_Duke; I placed the bulbs one at a time in a plastic bag (to prevent the broken glass from flying in all directions) padded with paper, and then hit at the glass with a hammer using increasing strength until the glass shattered.
The trick is to be able to stop the hammer before it goes too far, it took two broken innards before I got the hang of it.;)

[willy b]

These are seriously cool! Very very creative, and i love the idea of a thread of things to do when bored in the house, that needs to be a thread!

[Grimes]

Very awesome! #2 is just "warming and inviting"

[siuleung]

The first is pure quality. There is something about the tones of smoke in black and white that make me want to say, "hey, those are nice tones."

[mpistone]

Mind sharing the settings you used here? They're great!

[Decapolis]

Thanks again for the kind comments! I appreciate it!:)

Mind sharing the settings you used here? They're great!

Sure,
They are all shot with a shutter speed of 1/1600 and aperture of f/4 @ ISO 100.

I screwed the broken bulb in a turned off lamp against a black background (piece of cardboard). I then mounted the camera on a tripod and prefocused on the 'heart' of the bulb, the part that was to burn. After these preparations I switched off all the lights in the room, and got ready behind the camera.
When taking the shot, you will need to have one hand on the shutter button of the camera, and the other holding the switch for the lamp.
First press and hold the shutter button on the camera (camera in burst mode) until you hear the first click of the shutter. Then, while still holding down the camera button, turn on the lamp with the switch in the other hand.
It will all be over in about 1 second, instantly burning.
The number of photos you'll get per bulb depends on how many fps your camera can take. My 400D has 3 fps, so I get 2-3 exposures/bulb.

Apart from the resizing, contrast and sharpening etc, this is the PP for the individual shots as far as I can remember. I just played around until I reached a result that I liked.

#1 Was only desaturated.
#2 Had no drastic PP applied.
#3 Was desaturated, then inverted (so that black became white and white became black).
#4 I first inverted the colours (Image>Adjustment>Invert), then duplicated the layer.
The bottom layer I desaturated. The top one I erased everything but the smoke, and then changed the hue until the smoke had a colour I was happy with.
#5 Had again no serious Photoshopping done to it.

If some part of the text is unclear, (English is my 3rd language) please don't hesitate to ask!

Best Regards,
-Decapolis

[Anke]

Great shots, and a great idea for a shoot. Looks like you could go through a lot of bulbs practicing :)

[nuffi]

That looks fun!

...if there isn't such a thread there should be. Along with another of foolproof methods of getting the wife and kids out of the house.


A pretty solid method for most folks to get their wife and kids out of the way is to point out that you're having a camera day today, and anyone left in the house will have to help daddy with his life studies by taking off all their clothing and posing for the camera.

[Mr B Snappy]

A pretty solid method for most folks to get their wife and kids out of the way is to point out that you're having a camera day today, and anyone left in the house will have to help daddy with his life studies by taking off all their clothing and posing for the camera.

That doesn't work!:cool:

[ndlaw]

Totally awesome! Yet another idea for when the weather is to crappy to take picture outside!