Steel Wool Photography and Light Painting

~By Benjamin

Recently we enjoyed a movie night at our house with some friends from youth group. There were several photographers in the group so we decided afterwards to do some night steel wool photography.

The way you do this is to take some steel wool, stuff it in a kitchen whisk attached to a short rope or piece of leather, and set the steel wool on fire with a 9 volt battery. You then swing it around sending sparks into the air (have someone nearby to stomp out fires in the grass J). You need to have your camera set to ISO 100, 8-10 second exposure, and your aperture set at f/3.5. Here are some more steel wool pictures we took:

My attempt at the Olympic Symbol

My friend D and I thought it would be fun to both have our flaming steel wool and run in circles at the same time. The picture turned out a bit hectic but we thought it was kind of cool!

My dearly departed friend D getting zapped. J It’s amazing the things you can do when you start playing around with long exposure photography.

While we were out doing night photography we thought we might as well get some light painting in. Light painting is even simpler than steel wool. You simply set your camera to go until you stop it (we use a remote), ISO 400, and aperture at f/3.5. Then take a flashlight and outline a person or object.

My mom asked to be traced with her arms spread outward in the shape of a cross.

All in all it was a fun night with great people. Which picture is your favorite? Leave a comment and let us know!