UNIT 1 - MOVEMENT - AO2 - Experimenting with "ball of light"

So for my last piece of work for AO1 I looked into Denis smiths "Ball of light" photography, here Denis created balls of light using the technique of long exposure in the art form of 'light painting' I am wanting to experiment with this technique so here is my attempt at his work.

Proof of concept:

So to start off I searched the internet to try and find ways of taking the shots, finding out that to create the circle I would need a torch, attach it to some string then spin it around, rotating my body at the same time creating a sphere. for settings I would need to have it exposed for around 30 seconds, and the lowest ISO possible as the higher it gets the more noise fills in which can break the shot if not controlled. Heres what I produced in the hall:

I like this shot because of the contrast between the orb and the background. Because its the only light source in the shot it immediately draws attention for the viewer.

The colour as well is interesting as I believe it brings a "tron" like feel to it with the light and dark blue around also relating to electricity and power.

Settings --- ISO 150, Shutter speed 30" aperture F4

Ideas:

1. I could do a shot near the the roads as the cars going past would look interesting and would help relate to movement.

2. I could do some shots on the hills near ringinglow which are over looking the city. The orange glow of the city would create an ominous feel I think.

To pull both of these shots I shall have to shoot when the full moon is out as the reflected light from the sun shall illuminate the surrounding environment. Allowing us to shoot at a lower ISO.

Heres what I pulled off from the evening:

So on the night I met up with the guys of "Orb Media", A photographic group who specialises in long exposure photography. They told me there tips and tricks and we set out to ringinglow to shoot.

I particularly like this shot as the contrast with the glow from the city to the dark sky create a sense of impact especially on what we as humanity are changing the landscape, scaring the evening sky. We chose a green LED as it would stand out and would relate to the nearby tree as it has no leaves looking dead. We could say that the orb is the soul of the tree and nature itself perhaps.

This is probably my favourite image from the night. The contrast with the sparks and the lone person in the centre of the circle aid the viewer to the main focus of the shot. I also love the textures in the shot with the sparks flying away and the trees invading the sparks space.

The settings for this shot were as follows: ISO 200, F/8, Shutter speed 25"