Titanium Sparks!

Here's a couple of candid's of my workmate Blake, grinding the death out of a titanium exhaust off a car. The sparks it gives off is a bright white like magnesium!
He's a nutter and so much fun to have in the workshop. I should take my camera to work more often.
C&C please.
#1

They both look a bit soft, #2 seems softer though.
#1 has a very busy background, which is corrected through less exposure in the second.

Maybe next time you can use your flash to help illuminate the area while keeping the background dark? Just a thought...

Yeah, #2 is softer as it focussed on the smoke and sparks. I had to slow the shutter down to 60th to get the sparks. If I had used a flash, I think the effects of the sparks would have been not as impressive.
The joys of a candid. No time to clear the workshop, we only get 30mins for lunch.

Thanks for C&C It helps me a lot.

Think these would work better if the subject was looking at what he was working on rather than at the sparks he was creating.

He was working on making a mean shower of sparks.
Sometimes I wonder about posting on here.

CircuitR wrote in post #10142991
He was working on making a mean shower of sparks.
Sometimes I wonder about posting on here.

The effect isn't lost on me....I think they look great! Better to capture a moment and have atmosphere in a picture, than to have a technically perfect miss.
Of course both would be nice!!! - how do they look in mono??

I vote #2 as the higher contrast and dimmed BG make it more appealing. NIce sparks. I gotta shoot someone with a grinder sometime...Been meaning to do so. Got anywelders in your shop there?

No3 on the Flickr page is good!! 'titanium rain'......that would make a good band name!

Thanks guys I was pretty happy with these shots. Black in white wasn't doing it for me.
The second shot actually has a layer in mono with an overlay adjustment to boost the blacks and whites.
We've got T.I.Gs, M.I.Gs, arcs and M.A.G welders in our shop. I'm just a bit worried the bright arc might damage the chip without some sort filter in front. What do you guys think? Maybeuse a UV for protection?

AJG1 wrote in post #10143075
No3 on the Flickr page is good!! 'titanium rain'......that would make a good band name!

Ha ha, cheers! I was scratching my head for a while on that one. I felt it needed smething there.
Thanks for looking at my flickr.

What kind of car has titanium exhaust?

Well I would assume shooting welds wouldn't be a problem as I shot the sun directly and didn't experience any damage. Just keep that aperture down. You may want to try an ND filter if your really worried. I think you will be fine though.

those white sparks look cool , while being extremely hot (3,000 degrees F) and can damage your eyes easily , UV goggles are recommended. Fun stuff to mess with , but the dust is not , Titanium dioxide dust can be carcinogenic if ingested.

Great captures , makes for a sweet effect doesn't it ?

va_rider wrote in post #10143182
What kind of car has titanium exhaust?

It's an aftermarket Japanese exhaust off a Lexus Soarer. The owner came to us as someone had tried to repair it using mild steel. I personally don't recommend it for road cars as titanium fatigues faster than stainless steel if it's not held rigid.

Livinthalife wrote in post #10143218
Well I would assume shooting welds wouldn't be a problem as I shot the sun directly and didn't experience any damage. Just keep that aperture down. You may want to try an ND filter if your really worried. I think you will be fine though.

Cool, I'll have to get some shots of the guys welding one afternoon.

JTW_Jr wrote in post #10145148
those white sparks look cool , while being extremely hot (3,000 degrees F) and can damage your eyes easily , UV goggles are recommended. Fun stuff to mess with , but the dust is not , Titanium dioxide dust can be carcinogenic if ingested.

Great captures , makes for a sweet effect doesn't it ?

Yeah they do look amazing, kinda like a sparklers. Titanium dioxide just mixes with the other carcinogens in our shop. We should have been wearing our masks.

Thanks for the positive input guys.
Blair