Burning wire wool through a macro lens becomes a raging firestorm
Oct 10, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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When the whole wire wool thing was pretty cool and new a decade or more ago, many photographers stocked up. Then the idiots discovered it. These days, it’s become a bit of a boring and cliché subject. Some of us, though, still have mountains of the stuff sitting in our garage that we could never possibly use. The good news is, it can still make an excellent photographic subject, especially with a macro lens.
This video from the Macro Room shows what it looks like when you burn wire wool up close. It’s a mesmerising video, and offers all kinds of suggestions for things to try yourself.
Shooting with such a shallow depth of field produces some very cool results. It reminds me of those sequences you see in movies and TV shows of neurons firing in the brain.
You’d still want to take some safety precautions. This may prevent you from burning down any nearby national landmarks, but embers could still set something alight in your home or studio. So, if you do try this, be careful.
What other photographic uses have you come up with for wire wool? Let us know and show off your work in the comments.
[via Gizmodo]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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One response to “Burning wire wool through a macro lens becomes a raging firestorm”
Beautiful. Thanks for pointing it out.