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Challenge: Smoke II (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-210mm f/4.0
Location: Toronto, Ontario (My dad's shop)
Date: Oct 30, 2008
Aperture: f/32
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/250
Galleries: Science and Technology, Textures
Date Uploaded: Oct 29, 2008

 yea... yea... yea... you have seen this before =)

I got the idea from a pic taken by kiwiness (Thanks!), and I'm sure there will be several other shots like this... it's something that I have always wanted to try, and this was a perfect excuse =)

This is surprisingly easy... but also can be very dangerous... I will post some setup pictures, but as a disclamer I will say DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME =P

you are dealing with live wires here... I built a proper legal metal enclosure for the wires to keep things safe...

Now, there are several steps involved in taking this picture... once you have built a PROPER LEGAL SAFE wire enclosure; this is something I will not provide instructions for.... then you need to get some 100W bulbs... I advise you pick up about 20 of them... yea... you will need a lot of them depending on the result you want... I got them at RONA (lumber store)... they were $0.98 for a pack of four... then, get out your gloves and safety glasses (get an adult to do this) break the bulb inside a pail... BUT don't break the element wire... this is why you need about 20 bulbs... now, get your camera setup with a flash from the side (see setup pics) and have an assistant on the switch (I used a power bar with a switch) Thanks to my brother for patiently flicking the switch for me... basically, just look through the viewfinder, and have your assistant flick the power on and off QUICKLY then take your pic when the smoke looks good... this is the trial and error part... you have to be QUICK to flick the power back off because then the filament won't completely burn so you can get a couple of tries out of one bulb... I was getting about three tries out of each bulb before the filament burned up and broke... The smoke is actually the tungsten filament burning up (DO NOT BREATHE IT IN!!!!!!!)

I am not 100% pleased with the smoke in this shot, I have several others I will post that I like better because they show the bulb... but this isn't a light bulb challenge, so ultimately I had to choose the pic with the best smoke, and I think that this is it...but I really like the way the bulb broke in the other shots I took...

The lens I used is a 70-210mm f4 lens from the 1980's... I just bought it used for $110 on ebay and I was really glad that it came in time because it worked great!

Now, in terms of the final score... another one that could go either way... no predictions here... I'm just glad that I learned another cool trick!

I will post the setup pics shortly, so you will know how to do it too =)


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yay!!! top 10!!! (hoping for top 5... oh well =)

here are the setup pics:

They show a light bulb in them because they are from an out take... but same idea...



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Statistics
Place: 7 out of 105
Avg (all users): 6.5323
Avg (commenters): 7.4286
Avg (participants): 6.0238
Avg (non-participants): 6.6359
Views since voting: 3570
Views during voting: 482
Votes: 248
Comments: 17
Favorites: 6 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 II
 11/12/2008 08:19:45 AM
Awesome shot, congrats on top ten!
Explanation is really good, not that im gonna be trying it at home of course ;)
I thought the smoke in this shot was really good and is making a lovely interesting shape, colours are fabarooni too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 11/12/2008 12:11:15 AM
Hell of a long explanation for breaking lightbulbs and taking pictures of them, man. Nice shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D70
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 11/11/2008 01:35:42 PM
Fantastic!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1100D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
 11/11/2008 06:16:17 AM
I love the different colours in this, the orange especially is really eye-catching.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon
 11/11/2008 02:33:50 AM
Nice capture of a burning out light bulb. Interesting pattern. I hope you didn't go through too many filaments to get this one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 11/10/2008 03:34:40 PM
Yay another litebulb. LitInSMOKE
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7100
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR
 11/10/2008 01:27:13 PM
Love the oranges contrasting with the blues.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 11/10/2008 01:16:02 PM
Very well caught.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
 11/10/2008 12:20:12 PM
This is very well done, however the lack of originality looses some points. (7)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R5 Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 11/08/2008 09:24:59 AM
I like the sense of a 3D body out of the elusive smoke
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ED-IF
 11/06/2008 07:20:45 PM
almost an angel?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
 11/06/2008 03:09:13 PM
It is a very good picture indeed. The only problem is that I remember that the one from kiwiness is better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 11/05/2008 10:55:37 PM
Meets Challenge:2
Technicality:2
Interestingness:2
Personal Bias:1
TOTAL: 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon
 11/05/2008 03:22:15 PM
For me this is the best entry in the competition.
Beautiful colour combined with interest and sharpness... excellent
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-50D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 11/05/2008 11:28:35 AM
Great detail and colors, looks like an angel, 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Quantaray AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD Tele-Macro for Canon
 11/05/2008 08:43:25 AM
Great capture. I love the mushroom shape and the colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sanyo Xacti CG6
11/05/2008 02:37:11 AM
neat colors
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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