Play Time

Christmas night 2011. On a bridge over the Necker river in Waiblingen, the bridge being situated at the Hegnacher Mill, Waiblingen, Stuttgart, South West Germany.

Photographing molten metal is dangerous as an occupation.




You need an egg whisk, steel wool high grade such as 0, 00, 000 or 0000, a 9 volt battery, a carbine, rope or cable, and protective clothing, including clothing to cover hands, upper arms, and head. And you want to think very carefully about whether you want to do this - playing with fire can sometimes end up in tears.

For dangerous situations in my day time job I find preparation, rehearsal, more preparation, checklist mentality, teams working together and finally a little bit more preparation make for an event that goes ahead seamlessly and with the utmost safety.

Preparation should include:

• Night time photography
• Outside
• Away from inflammable materials
• Away from dry structures that can easily catch fire quickly - buildings, dry grass, wooden outbuildings
• Beware of the wind carrying sparks away to a vulnerable structure
• Fire extinguisher
• People to help you - bank on two extra people over and above what you think you need

Setup should include:

• Connect egg whisk to a carabine, this in turn can be connected to around 2-3 feet of cable or rope
• On the other end another carbine should be incorporated to facilitate easy swinging
• Clothing
• Keep 9 volt battery separate and away from the wool
• Shred the wool and place small quantities inside the whisk
• Set up the camera and shutter settings as outline below
• Open the shutter on "bulb" mode then set the wool alight and swing the egg whisk
• Make sure accomplices stand well back

Settings for a camera for this shot might include:

• Tripod with shutter release cable
• Manual Mode
• Shutter speed around 30 seconds
• Aperture around f/8.0
• ISO: 200
• White balance: set to Tungsten
• RAW format is best to enable non destructive editing in software such as Lightroom.
• Pre focus using a torch at the point where the wool will be spun prior to starting the process - performing this ahead of time means better results

Safety:
Flying molten metal can go anywhere. Clothing to protect burns is a major prerequisite:
Gloves, hat, upper body clothing's to cover shoulders/upper arms; glasses or even goggles for eye protection.

Play Time

Shot details: Nikon D700 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm f/9.0 127.0 seconds ISO 200
Camera WB set to Tungsten
Tripod & shutter release cable
Red LED torch was used to walk towards the camera on either side of the bridge making circular patters
LED Lenser torch used to light the railings of the bridge.

Did I say that you should be careful about safety & risk management?