My Light Painting Evolving

dragondan84 said:
can you post up a guide on how you made your lighting rig? (what you made the orbs with)
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Yea I can't do a step by step of the new tool as it's kind of a one of a kind bodge just now. Should be able to throw something up about the originals, so may work on that over the weekend.

Matt_SX said:
This new creative photography section is just superb, as this thread proves

Really enjoy watching your technique improve, all the shots are fantastic

Looking forward to the Callanish Stones orbs ;-)
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Thanks very much. Hopefully get over that way soon, the last few weeks the good weather days are during the week and can only head out for an hour-ish or I'll never get up for work. I'm really looking forward to it though, want a really good night for it.
 
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Manc Man said:
Nice work with the River Orb Matt
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Thanks much appreciated!

kamakazi137 said:
Nice wee thread you've got here Matthew, first time I've seen it, good idea keeping it going like a timeline. Really got to head out for a night again soon, if it even gets dark any more!
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Thanks, yea keeps me going anyways. I know far to bright, even midnight is still bright the now...

dubzter said:
love this thread, your shots have come on leaps and bounds, really inspirational. So much so I've just bought my first set of ebay battery powered LEDs for all of £1.56 inc delivery :)
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Thanks for the input, glad you like and have invested! Its a very slippery slope now haha, your going to get sucked in! Its great fun though and something a bit different to the normal landscapes etc.
 
Just had a good look through your thread Matt. Great to follow your progression. I'm heading up your way next week so I'll be on the lookout for mysterious orbs on the beaches at night.
 
Your light painting is brilliant i love it :) the pictures that the light is spraying off is the wool burning yes? so you set light to it and then spin it round? and what do you attach to the wool to spin it round with? I really want to get some of those pictures just not totally sure how to, thanks :)
 
Barrysprout said:
Just had a good look through your thread Matt. Great to follow your progression. I'm heading up your way next week so I'll be on the lookout for mysterious orbs on the beaches at night.
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Oh cool where we're you staying? You wouldn't have seen mysterious Orbs unfortunately, it doesn't get dark much at all up here at this time of year, there's light till about half 1-2 then sun rise at like 4, not much light painting happening :( hope you had a great time the weather has been amazing lately.

Lewis Young said:
Your light painting is brilliant i love it :) the pictures that the light is spraying off is the wool burning yes? so you set light to it and then spin it round? and what do you attach to the wool to spin it round with? I really want to get some of those pictures just not totally sure how to, thanks :)
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Yeah steel wool, I use a whisk on the end of a bit of string. Remember to put your hood up! Singed hair isn't nice! Haha

So here's the most recent LP, I had to let it out and didn't care how! So some wafting on our staircase.


Stair Wafting by M+M Morrison, on Flickr
 
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We are actually on the island this week and next. Staying at Carloway. Weather is interesting! Managed to get online via next doors wifi.
 
Barrysprout said:
We are actually on the island this week and next. Staying at Carloway. Weather is interesting! Managed to get online via next doors wifi.
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Oh cool that's a great place over there, so much to see and do, I must admit I take it for granted most of the time! Haha stealing peoples internets! Has to be done. Yes our weather here is very interesting, can be sun and 24 degrees one day and then 10 and wind and rain the next... just don't believe the weatherman!

Well if you fancy meeting up one night or anything just give us a shout! Not sure what the weathers doing just now seems to be changing, just let us know.

Anyway got back out last night for 45mins, very last minute, just wanted to try out this place. As you can tell from the exposure it is still very much bright up here, so easy to get near daylight shots, I'm sure I could have left it a bit longer and got it even brighter!


Hiding in the Woods by M+M Morrison, on Flickr

I have been trying spinning the Orbs doing 3-4 full turns, however I seem to be getting a double Orb if you can see what I mean recently. So will have to work on my technique a bit and test out more, uneven ground is a killer for me too. More practise!
 
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Manc Man said:
Another great spin Matt.
Colour suits the location - are you using gels over your lights.

See what you mean about the spins, try only turning on 180 - half circle.
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Thanks again, yea I use Quality Street wrappers as colours, the Orange was produced by an Orange Creme and 2 Chocolate Toffee Fingers :D housed in a wee 'thing'.

Will have to do more Orb tests see what works...

Another...


Hide & Seek by M+M Morrison, on Flickr
 
If the rain holds off I am going to give this a whirl (pun intended) when it gets good and dark. Just wired up 3 super bright LED's a mate gave me a year or two ago to some old speaker wire and a 9v battery. Healthy dose of lecky tape and a 60mm M8 bolt for a bit of weight. Got a feeling I may end up with a swirly mess rather than an orb with the wind we have here.
Oh and I really want one of those mini-blue light sabres! I feel a new project coming on.
 
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Sounds like a great wee Orb tool, looking for ward to seeing how it goes. Ha don't worry about ragged-ness at the beginning, it will come in to place the more you try. Ya the weather ain't so good up here this weekend so not sure if I'll get out anytime soon!
 
great work fella
 
Had a great night out last night. Myself and Mrs sprout went on a crash course of light painting with Matt. Thanks again Matt, we both had a great time. Looking forward to seeing the shots on a bigger screen when we get home.
We will also be sourcing some torches, whisks and maybe stealing our grandsons light saber.
 
Back home now unfortunately, but had time to look at some of the 2 weeks worth of shots. Here's a few taken on our night out with Matt.


IMG_1597 by barrysprout, on Flickr


IMG_1593 by barrysprout, on Flickr


IMG_1592 by barrysprout, on Flickr

Orbs created by Matt in the ones above, notice how they are well formed and close to the ground. But he also trusted me enough to have a go myself!
Result below, not as well formed and a bit high off the ground.


IMG_1590 by barrysprout, on Flickr
 
Just need to work on my spotting the coin skills! Have collected a number of LED torches and bits and pieces in the two days we have been back. Just need to find my soldering iron now and get them all put together. Looking forward to our first outing. Not sure if I'll try the wire wool just yet though.

I like the composition on your last one and the couple of stars showing too.
 
Cool! Looking forward to seeing a thread of your own appearing soon... speaking of coins... I went home 15p lighter... doh!

Wire wool is better on the beach haha, you can go much bigger than the other night without worrying about setting the place on fire.
 
Woo! My Light-painting will have an extra ooomph to it hopefully in the next few days :) managed to find/order a V24 7 colour! As long as its a legit shop... I can't wait haha!

For anyone that maybe interested (if this is not allowed please inform and I will delete this post) my Blue V-24 will be up for sale next week, I can't justify having two just now.
 
Hmmm depending on how my home made version goes over the weekend I may be looking for a V-24.

And the way things are going the home made version may not be up to much.
Just completed my Orb tool tonight. Not quite as planned. Used a £3 LED torch from Maplin, £1.19 push to make switch from Maplin, 39p plastic container of jelly diamonds from B&M, £1.99 box of Quality street from B&M and some spare 3 core I had in my magic box of cables.
Worked out what and how I was doing everything, chopped what needed chopped and dug out the soldering iron. Soldering all done, build complete, batteries inserted.
It works!, that's the bad part. It works when batteries are inserted and stops working when I press the PUSH TO BREAK SWITCH which I bought by mistake.:bonk::bonk::bonk:
 
I have 'kind of' made an orb tool.

Tested but limited to space so hopefully I'll take it out later on.
 
Barrysprout said:
Hmmm depending on how my home made version goes over the weekend I may be looking for a V-24.

And the way things are going the home made version may not be up to much.
Just completed my Orb tool tonight. Not quite as planned. Used a £3 LED torch from Maplin, £1.19 push to make switch from Maplin, 39p plastic container of jelly diamonds from B&M, £1.99 box of Quality street from B&M and some spare 3 core I had in my magic box of cables.
Worked out what and how I was doing everything, chopped what needed chopped and dug out the soldering iron. Soldering all done, build complete, batteries inserted.
It works!, that's the bad part. It works when batteries are inserted and stops working when I press the PUSH TO BREAK SWITCH which I bought by mistake.:bonk::bonk::bonk:
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Aww man, hope you got it sorted haha! Looking forward to your results, and really glad your getting into it... loads of fun and wastes many hours building, tinkering and thats even before you get out with the camera!

posiview said:
I'll keep my eyes open for this - are you selling it on here?

Cheers and keep up the light painting :clap:
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Not 100% sure what I am doing with it yet, should know more next week ;)

Dougster said:
I have 'kind of' made an orb tool.

Tested but limited to space so hopefully I'll take it out later on.
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Great! Its great fun will reply to your PM in a bit with more details etc.

Well haven't managed out since the meet with Mr Sprout so was looking through old shots and came across this one.


A Forgotten Home by M+M Morrison, on Flickr

It's similar to one already posted, however looking back I think I prefer this angle/composition, what do you think?
 
Again looking through old shots, I came acorss this one from the trip to the Broch with Mr Sprout. I wasn't too happy with the result that I got so gave it some Light-Room treatment, better crop, upped the exposure by 1, abit of clarity and contrast and tweaked the white balance to what I thought it should have been.

Heres the result which i am not happier with.


Spinning at the Broch by M+M Morrison, on Flickr
 
Love the forgotten home shot Matt. Worth the bumpy road to get to the location. Think it would be improved by removing the two lighter bits on the ground (bottom left and right of shack) Great composition and looks like the orb is outgrowing the shack causing the walls to fall out
I've also just done re-edit of the exact spin you posted today. My shot was taken from above and clearly shows the spark that cleared the wall. (please note no grass or sheep were harmed in the making of this image)
 
Barrysprout said:
Love the forgotten home shot Matt. Worth the bumpy road to get to the location. Think it would be improved by removing the two lighter bits on the ground (bottom left and right of shack) Great composition and looks like the orb is outgrowing the shack causing the walls to fall out
I've also just done re-edit of the exact spin you posted today. My shot was taken from above and clearly shows the spark that cleared the wall. (please note no grass or sheep were harmed in the making of this image)
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Thanks for the comments and C&C. Would be good to see your version!

Haha yea really didn't want anything to go on fire that night, especially a sheep!

Just to give people a heads up, if you are looking to buy a LED Lenser V-24 or anything for that matter from www.LED-Torches.co.uk don’t… I have found out the hard way by ignoring my own safeguards etc. They still take orders but are a dissolved company which I just found out today, so working on a Paypal dispute/claim now.
 
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I've uploaded mine to Flickr just a moment ago.

That's bad news about your V24 order. I came across that bunch when searching a few days ago. Firefox wouldn't allow me to go through the checkout without accepting their warning so I backed away. Hopefully Paypal will sort you out, albeit after jumping through hoops for them for a few weeks.
 
love doing the night stuff i was pretty gutted when the clocks changed lol Great start and i'm sure your addicted by now ......
 
Finally got out again, bright and wet though... New/modified tool and spinning technique as well. The tool started to pack in (loose wire or something) after a few Orbs, gave a neat effect though, will get that shot up later on. This was the first of the night.


A Monumental Orb by M+M Morrison, on Flickr

Still wide awake after being out, always come home with a buzz!
 
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Here's the shot with the malfunctioning Tool, still not looked at the tool yet, seemed as though it was loosing connection on the down swing. Really chuffed with it, was the wife that made me do this, I was pretty annoyed and wanted to call it a night once it played up, so this was great.


Severed Sphere by M+M Morrison, on Flickr
 
Jase Mac said:
love doing the night stuff i was pretty gutted when the clocks changed lol Great start and i'm sure your addicted by now ......
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Yea super addicted, can't wait for the nights to draw in again (well i can wait because I do love summer, but night would be good aswell haha).

Just a wee up-date, should hopefully hear back from Paypal this week about the dispute and then hopefully have my money back. So I kind-of gave the game away about what I had ordered so yea been looking out for a Colour V-24 for some time and have found another source and ordered today, so hopefully that should come through at the end of the week. Will probably be shoving the Blue V-24 on E-bay next week, there's only so much stuff I can allow myself to have just now haha!
 
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Another great location Matt, really like the second shot. Now if you can keep the fault consistent and change the orb colour to green you can get some Matrixy type shots.

Was the V24 €81.80 by any chance?

EDIT: Arrived!
IMG_66332.jpg


Really need a night with no rain now though or at least less rain.
 
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Barrysprout said:
Another great location Matt, really like the second shot. Now if you can keep the fault consistent and change the orb colour to green you can get some Matrixy type shots.

Was the V24 €81.80 by any chance?

EDIT: Arrived!

Really need a night with no rain now though or at least less rain.
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Whay nice one, and yes it may have cost the same. In Inverness just now so should be at home when I get there tomorrow :D can't wait. You happy with it? Good condition?

dragondan84 said:
with the orbs do you turn 180 deg or full 360?
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Can be anything from (edit) 360 to 1080+, the two at the monument recently were done doing a 360 super slowly, hence you can see a slight outline of me. The 'forgotten home' if I remember rightly was 3 full 360's. Hope that helps.
 
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