I just searched my old Flickr profile for "lasers" and up came 78 photos where a laser features in the image. I never realised I'd shot that many and maybe I have an addiction!
The following images are made with a cheap laser pen bought from somewhere like Amazon or maybe eBay. They only cost around £10 to £15 at the most. The more expensive ones I have resisted buying because lasers are actually quite dangerous for eyes and my expensive digital camera's sensor! I don't relish the idea of writing off my camera because the insurance company won't payout because I was an idiot!
By themselves, the lower powered lasers can look pretty unspectacular. So to bring out the beams of light, I generally use smoke grenades or pellets. It also helps if you have a friend with a vape device but it takes a lot of puffing on the part of the vaper to get the desired effects.
It's also possible to use professional smoke machines but the kind I need has to be powered by batteries and at over £700 for a decent machine, I can't justify spending that kind of cash for something which might only get used a few times in a year. I spend my money wisely and this probably would be a foolhardy purchase!
Also with lasers, the more smoke or vapour you can create, the greater the definition of the beams. For small rooms or abandoned buildings, I use smoke pellets or have a friend puff away with a vape pen. For the larger stages, I need smoke grenades which is a slightly more expensive option but well worth it if you use them wisely.
The Thing
This is @fadetoblack posing in an old railway tunnel in the middle of the Peak District in Derbyshire. It's simple and effective and an example of when more smoke makes the beams go further.
The Entrance to the Steel City
I have tended to use laser beams to fill spaces in the frame and to create background seperation.
This image is made with two focal lengths where the lens cap is applied during the exposure. First I shot the larger silhouette with the lasers until I got the desired effect and then replaced the lens cap without ending the exposure. I then had the same person in the frame moved back in to a doorway with a rear mounted flashgun lighting up the smoke to fill the doorway with light.
This is also one of those images where if you slightly misalign the centre part, it can be very infuriating and has to be repeated until nailed!
Just hanging around with Suz
Another example where the beams are used to fill spaces in the frame. Here I've used a camera rotation device and flipped the camera on it's lens axis in the same exposure.
Prismatica
I managed to find a quality prismatic lens filter in eBay. There is only one person in the frame but turning the filter ring around created a great double exposure.
Cascade
I had this brainwave idea to attach a laser pen to a drill and spin around on the spot. The effect of the laser point hitting the walls is mesmering but it does tend to make me dizzy! It was also interesting to discover that the beams don't appear on wood, who knew??
Everybody is dead Dave
Another example of the LiDar effect of the laser pen on a drill except this time, my willing victim, aka, volunteer laid on the floor for the ray tracing of the corpse!
Experimental shizz
I was given a laser level device by my employer at the time which emitted a nice red beam. My first thought wasn't checking levels on building sites but how I could use it for lightpainting! The beam emitted created a broad line rather than a defined one and here I've used a camera rotation device to spread the beams around the frame, filling the middle with a smokey backlit silhouette.
This ain't no disco!
One of my favourite applications of the work provided laser level. The level device is located very close to ground level and it was somewhat tricky to light the beam with a smoke pellet. If the beam was brighter, I could have used a shorter exposure and captured the great textures in the beams. The longer exposure needed for the dimmer red ends up more smooth or blurry. Still looks great though and I keep eyeing a green laser level as my next laser beam purchase!
Subterranean Lightpainter
It's possible to buy red, green and blue laser pointers. The green is brightest but the red and especially the blue laser light is somewhat disappointingly dimmer.
It's also the closest I've come in this image to damaging my sensor! Never again!!
The Third Dimension
I've used the laser beams as a major part of the composition too. This is a three way camera rotation image made in one photographic expsoure. The camera is rotated every 120 degrees for each of the three silhouettes. Note to salf: use three way rotations more often!
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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Lightpainting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure. Nothing is added or removed in post processing.
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If you want to see more examples of lightpainting, feel free to check out these guys:
Mafu Fuma | Oddballgraphics | FadetoBlack | DAWN | Mart Barras | Stefan Stepke | Nikolay Trebukhin | Lee Todd | Stabeu Light | Maxime Pateau | Stephen Sampson | lightandlense | Neil Rushby | L.A.C.E.
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Banging set fella. Lasers clearly ftw.
Lasers always work in a crypto environment .. not even talking going around the blocks .. Works for me - all of them
Cool set of laser shots.
Guess when you take your laser out for a walk people passing by think there is a huge party going on 😂
Haha, we’ve had a car roll up, a young woman got out and asked if this was where the rave was at! I was lighting a tree at the time…
Well, has the advantage that you get free models coming to you 😂