So last week @shadesofgrey followed the letters in a blog tutorial I wrote awhile ago and shot a photo of a burning light bulb filament. It's actually fun, a bit frustrating at times, but the results are well worth it! At some point during which Shades was praising my awesome photography skills and fantastical blog writing skills (seriously, he did) we decided to hold a little competition.
This week is Thanksgiving break for all us turkey-loving Americans. So, for those slackers like Allie and Ymke who actually study in school, there is only two days of class this week. I figure this would be a good time to give this little competition a try.
So, basically, it works like this. I've added my photo below that I shot about a year ago to give you an example and added the link to my blog tutorial. Right now, if you do a Google search for "burning light bulb filament" I'm second on the first page. Now...tell me my ego isn't well-deserved. Go ahead. Lie to me! Just ask Cheyenne...my ego is the size of Texas and well-deserved.
Shoot a photo of a burning light bulb filament between today, November 19 and next Saturday, November 26. Upload the photo to your project and tag it "Burn Baby Burn". The photo must contain at least one broken light bulb with a burning filament. Any post-processing you choose is acceptable. All photos must be uploaded to your project and tagged properly by midnight, Eastern Standard Time, on November 26.
Next Sunday, I will begin a new thread titled "BURN Baby Burn Competition", list all the eligible photos for the competition, and let the voting begin. Since I imagine a lot of people may be traveling home from the break, voting will run through 5PM Monday with the winner announced later that night.
Any questions? Thoughts? Suggestions? Attempts to make the ego of Lord Shadow bigger?
Should I even attempt to attempt this....? I don't know if my vending machine camera can handle it... maybe if it was from Target... but I don't think Wal-mart is up to par...
@crispypringles4 Dang, yeah, I guess this is one time I have to admit: this is almost impossible with a P&S and cell phone camera. The settings needed and timing to get it right is just impossible with anything other than a DSLR with a remote release.
Why can't you have a "real" camera so we can see more amazing photos from you?!?!
@crispypringles4 Wanna know something? When I was a senior in college I first became seriously interested in photography. I got my first photography job, in fact two. I was UNC Wilmington's first student photographer and I also shot NCAA sports for the Athletics Department. In January of my senior year, I used my financial aid refund, all of it, to buy my first DSLR. That's how I got started with where I am now.
I still have five days of work in this seven day week. I will see if I can try, but a bit worried about some broken glass.
@crispypringles4 keep your eye out on craigslist or ebay and consider it a starter model. While I do not have a Nikon It was great to start out with that.
@jasonbarnette would a bridge camera work for this. It is a bit cheaper than an dslr but will provide some flexibility. Also is the prize a sweet piece of fudge or taffy?
@brumbe Hmmm...I'm not sure if a bridge camera would work or not. It *should*. As for the prize...uhm...I'm wondering if I should tell people now, or let them try their shots first?
They're really easy to do, but you've gotta worry about broken glass, fire and very high voltage. Be sure the power is disconnected before screwing in or screwing out that broken lightbulb.
@herussell Doesn't matter. You'll be shooting at about 200 ISO, f/8 @ 1/1000 exposure. Even in full sunlight in the middle of the day your room will appear almost black. Shoot at night.
@jasonbarnette
Some what of a random question. How different are DSLR cameras from non-DSLR cameras in terms of what you discuss in your "Taking Manual Control of your Camera" tutorial?
Also, when are you posting today's photo? I want to see how it goes.
@mej2011 Actually, that was *two* random questions. But that's OK.
My series on taking manual control works on all cameras, whether they are DSLR's, P&S cameras, or even some cell phones now allow manual control. It's all the same, it's just the results on DOF are somewhat different.
And the photo...eh...I think I might upload it in a few minutes and then go shoot photos for the rest of hte day and hide from the comments bahahaha
@jasonbarnette
I told you that you should have just left everything set up and taken it as it was naturally happening. But does anyone listen to me??? NOOOOOOOOO.
Good....Great.........Tomato.......Potato.
@mej2011 Yeah well here's the thing: I actually use all my gear for my job!! Haha. I couldn't just leave it set up and I couldn't just set it up and break it down each night. Bah.
@jasonbarnette Re: prize.....let us wait. I'm sure it is something *awesome* like a autographed head shot, I mean selfie. Looking forward to some fun shoots for this!
@brumbe If you read the tutorial he mentions using a ziploc bag to break the bulbs in. I tried it and it works! It is actually super easy and not all that time consuming. The setup was the longest part for me. I think setup, breaking the bulbs (4) , photos and takedown all took me about 1/2 an hour or so. I used a piece of matte board I had laying around and glue sticked black construction paper to it for the back ground, set a lamp on a table ( a few feet away from the board on the wall), adjusted the camera, shut the lights off and shot away! I know the whole in the dark thing might have been overkill but I wanted to be sure it would work out since I only had 4 bulbs!
@shadesofgrey I'm actually thinking and pretty sure I will recuse myself from this contest. Since I'm the one organizing it and all I don't think that would be fair.
The prize? Yeah I'll announce that when I post the thread next weekend.
I bet you could still do some shots....since you have something awesome planned. Just don't include them in the voting portion. You know if you had an ACE, you would have a spot to put all of your extras from this!
@shadesofgrey Blah blah blah shutit. I'm getting an ACE account on January 1! And yeah I'll still snap and post a photo of my own, I just won't let people vote on it.
Shame, though. I would've won easily. Guess now the contest will be fair bahaha
Thanks for the write up. I saw this in Popular Photography last month and really wanted to try it. Now I know how cant wait to try it. Not its just me being brave enough to try :)
@shortperson2002 Do it! It is super easy, I promise! You could even let your boy(s) hit the power switch. I plugged the lamp into a power strip so I didn't have to get near the bulb, you could even use an extension cord from the lamp to the power strip, it would let you keep away from the lamp and press the shutter on you camera....like he said before the flame is only there for a split second, I got about two shots on my camera and it shoots 4fps. I made sure it was away from the wall and everything, I followed his tutorial as close as I could. I'd say the lamp was about 3 feet from the wall and the camera was 3 feet from the lamp. Obviously it all depends on your lens but I did get closer with the camera after I figured out that it wouldn't do anything crazy.
@cheyrebecca Extension cord from lamp to power strip, extension cord from power strip to wall, the you can control when the lamp comes on with the power strip and stand near your camera to press the shutter.
i may need to borrow a house or garage to shoot this photo in. the responsible boomerang kid that I am (i'm staying with my folks until i find a place to live) wants to respect my mother's wish that i *not* set things on fire in her house, regardless of how quickly the flame is out.
@brumbe GRRR. Why don't you just buy me the ACE account now so I have no more excuses? :P
@lauracaseyfoss Trust me...even if you put a piece of paper directly on the filament I doubt it could catch on fire. It's perfectly safe. Please try it!
I really want to try this but the problem I have is... incandescent light bulbs.... they are/ have been phased out here so if I can find some I will give it a go (might not be this week though)
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Why can't you have a "real" camera so we can see more amazing photos from you?!?!
I think I can persuade him though. :D
Oh...and I'm giving a sweet little prize to the winner. Did I forget to mention that?
@crispypringles4 keep your eye out on craigslist or ebay and consider it a starter model. While I do not have a Nikon It was great to start out with that.
@jasonbarnette would a bridge camera work for this. It is a bit cheaper than an dslr but will provide some flexibility. Also is the prize a sweet piece of fudge or taffy?
They're really easy to do, but you've gotta worry about broken glass, fire and very high voltage. Be sure the power is disconnected before screwing in or screwing out that broken lightbulb.
Now you just need to shoot a few more this week.
Alright - I guess I'll read up about it and see if I can give it a go!!
Some what of a random question. How different are DSLR cameras from non-DSLR cameras in terms of what you discuss in your "Taking Manual Control of your Camera" tutorial?
Also, when are you posting today's photo? I want to see how it goes.
My series on taking manual control works on all cameras, whether they are DSLR's, P&S cameras, or even some cell phones now allow manual control. It's all the same, it's just the results on DOF are somewhat different.
And the photo...eh...I think I might upload it in a few minutes and then go shoot photos for the rest of hte day and hide from the comments bahahaha
One, two. I'm just waking up, what do you want from me?
Thanks! I will read your tutorials and see if I can make sense of them. Maybe you'll finally teach me a thing or two.
That's silly. You should be proud of it regardless of the comments. It's a good photo and it tells a good story.
I love fire - but this looks a little dangerous!
I told you that you should have just left everything set up and taken it as it was naturally happening. But does anyone listen to me??? NOOOOOOOOO.
Good....Great.........Tomato.......Potato.
Don't worry about the fire. That is the difficult part of this photo. That fire lasts about 1/5 of a second, if THAT.
Jobs...I forgot about those. You couldn't set it up and break it down each night, but isn't that what you do each day for your job?
The prize? Yeah I'll announce that when I post the thread next weekend.
Shame, though. I would've won easily. Guess now the contest will be fair bahaha
BTW, I really did like the intimacy of your photo today.
@lauracaseyfoss Trust me...even if you put a piece of paper directly on the filament I doubt it could catch on fire. It's perfectly safe. Please try it!
@momsta That's amazing! Great job with that one.