Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Sat Sept 01 2007, 08:26PMI have run my new colorwheel in front of my camera to shoot multicolored sparks.
Unfortunately lost 30 of my best closeup pics due to a software gremlin, but here are a couple of the earlier ones. They are 1 or 2 second exposures.
Note that these images have been cropped, resized and a mild red color cast corrected partially. They are NOT photoshopped or retouched.
Who wants boring old white sparks anymore?
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Firnagzen, Sun Sept 02 2007, 03:04AM
Ohhhhh, so that's how you do it, you spin a wheel with colour filters on it.
Pretty sparks!
Firnagzen, Sun Sept 02 2007, 03:04AM
Ohhhhh, so that's how you do it, you spin a wheel with colour filters on it.
Pretty sparks!
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Sun Sept 02 2007, 01:18PM
OK those last photos weren't the best.
(Humbly) Please consider these.
I've just changed my wallpaper...
Tesladownunder, Sun Sept 02 2007, 01:18PM
OK those last photos weren't the best.
(Humbly) Please consider these.
I've just changed my wallpaper...
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Electroholic, Mon Sept 03 2007, 04:55AM
that is amazing!!!
Electroholic, Mon Sept 03 2007, 04:55AM
that is amazing!!!
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Mon Sept 03 2007, 05:43AM
Heh... someone is going to want to buy your coil now that it produces multicolor sparks.
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Mon Sept 03 2007, 05:43AM
Heh... someone is going to want to buy your coil now that it produces multicolor sparks.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 12:08PM
Yep for sale but very expensive - especially the gold one
TDU
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 12:08PM
Yep for sale but very expensive - especially the gold one
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
HV Enthusiast, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:35PM
Looks nice.
You can do this even easier using photoshop - no hardware required.
Mount camera on tripod. Take shots as normally.
In photoshop, adjust highlight colors appropriately (or use selective mask) and change arc colors
Then simply combine final images using LIGHTEN blend method.
Add a "brighter" normal shot (no arcs) to the stack for your background and "normal" coloring.
HV Enthusiast, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:35PM
Looks nice.
You can do this even easier using photoshop - no hardware required.
Mount camera on tripod. Take shots as normally.
In photoshop, adjust highlight colors appropriately (or use selective mask) and change arc colors
Then simply combine final images using LIGHTEN blend method.
Add a "brighter" normal shot (no arcs) to the stack for your background and "normal" coloring.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:50PM
I get regularly accused of using Photoshop so I increasingly against using it (and I don't have it anyway).
Tell me, what would be hard to photoshop correctly in regard to sparks and not just coloured ones. Perhaps multiple mirrors, or a mirror ball or a mirror sphere.
I want to know what would make you think it could not have been photoshopped.
I seem to recall one of your previous multilayered shots lacking saturation since sparks should saturate the exposure, not be diluted several times.
TDU
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:50PM
I get regularly accused of using Photoshop so I increasingly against using it (and I don't have it anyway).
Tell me, what would be hard to photoshop correctly in regard to sparks and not just coloured ones. Perhaps multiple mirrors, or a mirror ball or a mirror sphere.
I want to know what would make you think it could not have been photoshopped.
I seem to recall one of your previous multilayered shots lacking saturation since sparks should saturate the exposure, not be diluted several times.
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Steve Conner, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:55PM
If I remember right, EVR used that multilayer technique *because* he didn't like the saturation (blocked-up highlights) you get from a plain long exposure.
TDU, are you trying to emulate the Tesla weapon from Red Alert? or maybe the proton beams from Ghostbusters
Steve Conner, Mon Sept 03 2007, 03:55PM
If I remember right, EVR used that multilayer technique *because* he didn't like the saturation (blocked-up highlights) you get from a plain long exposure.
TDU, are you trying to emulate the Tesla weapon from Red Alert? or maybe the proton beams from Ghostbusters
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 04:17PM
Loss of saturation just doesn't look right though. 5000K or whatever is saturated, visually or photographically provided the spark is wider than a pixel.
Next time I get it up and running I will put my wide angle lens in the Dalek cage to take what I see with sparks very close up.
And the fictional TC. Sorry I have to kill you now.
If you look at the Red Alert TC it has mostly white sparks with one yellow one thrown in. Still lots to do to make that a worthwhile shot including another new effect.
Of course, it could just be photoshopped....
TDU
Tesladownunder, Mon Sept 03 2007, 04:17PM
Loss of saturation just doesn't look right though. 5000K or whatever is saturated, visually or photographically provided the spark is wider than a pixel.
Next time I get it up and running I will put my wide angle lens in the Dalek cage to take what I see with sparks very close up.
And the fictional TC. Sorry I have to kill you now.
If you look at the Red Alert TC it has mostly white sparks with one yellow one thrown in. Still lots to do to make that a worthwhile shot including another new effect.
Of course, it could just be photoshopped....
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
HV Enthusiast, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:02AM
Because you said you used a color wheel.
No, thats not correct. You are thinking of an OVERLAY blend method.
What i use is the LIGHTEN blend method. This takes each photo, and compares pixels between each image. Whatever image has the "brightest" pixel, is kept in the final stacked image. So the arcs themselves appear no different than if you captured them using a longer exposure. What this method does do is maintain the background at the same "brightness" as in a single image. So you can literally take 20 second exposure of arcs, but yet your background is properly exposed for say a 1/2 second image etc....
Like i already said, it has nothing to do with the arcs and everything to do with the background. Its to prevent the background from being overexposed, not the arcs. They remained unchanged.
Also, don't put down photoshop. Almost all the techniques used in photoshop are the sames ones, albeit digital now, that have been used for decades in a darkroom for regular photography.
Another stab at photoshop. Well, tell me, whats the difference between photoshopping color in, or using an external filter to generate the color? You are both using artificial methods to modify the
image - just at different points in the image taking process. I see no difference, and i think its a cheapshot to belittle those who use photoshop.
Personally, i think modifying an image, whether it be through creative filtering, photoshop, etc... is ethically fine, so long as the photographer states what they had done and doesn't try to pass the image as something it is not.
HV Enthusiast, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:02AM
wrote ...
Tell me, what would be hard to photoshop correctly in regard to sparks and not just coloured ones. Perhaps multiple mirrors, or a mirror ball or a mirror sphere.
I want to know what would make you think it could not have been photoshopped.
Tell me, what would be hard to photoshop correctly in regard to sparks and not just coloured ones. Perhaps multiple mirrors, or a mirror ball or a mirror sphere.
I want to know what would make you think it could not have been photoshopped.
Because you said you used a color wheel.
wrote ...
I seem to recall one of your previous multilayered shots lacking saturation since sparks should saturate the exposure, not be diluted several times.
I seem to recall one of your previous multilayered shots lacking saturation since sparks should saturate the exposure, not be diluted several times.
No, thats not correct. You are thinking of an OVERLAY blend method.
What i use is the LIGHTEN blend method. This takes each photo, and compares pixels between each image. Whatever image has the "brightest" pixel, is kept in the final stacked image. So the arcs themselves appear no different than if you captured them using a longer exposure. What this method does do is maintain the background at the same "brightness" as in a single image. So you can literally take 20 second exposure of arcs, but yet your background is properly exposed for say a 1/2 second image etc....
wrote ...
If I remember right, EVR used that multilayer technique *because* he didn't like the saturation (blocked-up highlights) you get from a plain long exposure.
If I remember right, EVR used that multilayer technique *because* he didn't like the saturation (blocked-up highlights) you get from a plain long exposure.
Like i already said, it has nothing to do with the arcs and everything to do with the background. Its to prevent the background from being overexposed, not the arcs. They remained unchanged.
Also, don't put down photoshop. Almost all the techniques used in photoshop are the sames ones, albeit digital now, that have been used for decades in a darkroom for regular photography.
wrote ...
Note that these images have been cropped, resized and a mild red color cast corrected partially. They are NOT photoshopped or retouched.
Note that these images have been cropped, resized and a mild red color cast corrected partially. They are NOT photoshopped or retouched.
Another stab at photoshop. Well, tell me, whats the difference between photoshopping color in, or using an external filter to generate the color? You are both using artificial methods to modify the
image - just at different points in the image taking process. I see no difference, and i think its a cheapshot to belittle those who use photoshop.
Personally, i think modifying an image, whether it be through creative filtering, photoshop, etc... is ethically fine, so long as the photographer states what they had done and doesn't try to pass the image as something it is not.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
..., Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:31AM
Well, obviously TDU doesn't think that a photoshopped pic is as good as one made using optical tricks, so lets stop arguing and see more rainbow spark pics!
On that note, I would like to see a pic taken with a filter that has a color gradient across it, such that the sparks can be say red on one end and blue on the other, etc.
..., Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:31AM
Well, obviously TDU doesn't think that a photoshopped pic is as good as one made using optical tricks, so lets stop arguing and see more rainbow spark pics!
On that note, I would like to see a pic taken with a filter that has a color gradient across it, such that the sparks can be say red on one end and blue on the other, etc.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:44AM
EVR,
What I was asking was whether there are some pictures that would be hard to photoshop artificial sparks in. Like sparks on a black background is easy (I presume) but sparks seen in multiple views in mirrors must be hard to get right.
Sorry I don't know the difference between blend and overlay, not having the program but I understand what you are saying.
I am not putting down the program, which I am sure is fabulous and useful. My beef is that people dismiss my stuff as " 'shopped". Everything I do is with a single photographic exposure.
It's just a standard I have set myself and I explain all my techniques on my site. Hey, even Tesla was more "advanced" when he used a double exposure.
I have never seen a photo (I think with the exception of yours or Photo forums), where the photographer admitted using Photoshop. So I ask where the honesty is in Photoshop users.
TDU
Tesladownunder, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:44AM
EVR,
What I was asking was whether there are some pictures that would be hard to photoshop artificial sparks in. Like sparks on a black background is easy (I presume) but sparks seen in multiple views in mirrors must be hard to get right.
Sorry I don't know the difference between blend and overlay, not having the program but I understand what you are saying.
I am not putting down the program, which I am sure is fabulous and useful. My beef is that people dismiss my stuff as " 'shopped". Everything I do is with a single photographic exposure.
It's just a standard I have set myself and I explain all my techniques on my site. Hey, even Tesla was more "advanced" when he used a double exposure.
I have never seen a photo (I think with the exception of yours or Photo forums), where the photographer admitted using Photoshop. So I ask where the honesty is in Photoshop users.
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Capper, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:51AM
I wonder if you had several "ports" on the top of the coil with plastic hose running to various tanks of (non-flamable) gas, helium, argon, neon, etc.............
I wonder what CO2 or liquid nitrogen fog would look like with some arcs going through it?
I've coated jacob's ladder wires with various chemicals to get a bit of color before, has anyone coated their toroid with anything?
Too many ideas....too little time......and no money.....
Cool pictures though.
Scott
Capper, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:51AM
I wonder if you had several "ports" on the top of the coil with plastic hose running to various tanks of (non-flamable) gas, helium, argon, neon, etc.............
I wonder what CO2 or liquid nitrogen fog would look like with some arcs going through it?
I've coated jacob's ladder wires with various chemicals to get a bit of color before, has anyone coated their toroid with anything?
Too many ideas....too little time......and no money.....
Cool pictures though.
Scott
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Bjørn, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:59AM
It is not possible to define what a photograph is, in the same way as it is not possible to define how many atoms a person can carry. There is not one a specific atom that breaks your back, you are only 100% sure after you have surpassed the limit by some margin.
It is also quite simple to surpass the limit without a computer. You only need a pencil to prove that.
Bjørn, Tue Sept 04 2007, 12:59AM
Another stab at photoshop. Well, tell me, whats the difference between photoshopping color in, or using an external filter to generate the color?There is one fundamental difference. One of the methods results in a photograph and the other does not, it is partly computer generated after the fact. In some cases the difference is irrelevant or the two may even be equivalent, in som cases not.
It is not possible to define what a photograph is, in the same way as it is not possible to define how many atoms a person can carry. There is not one a specific atom that breaks your back, you are only 100% sure after you have surpassed the limit by some margin.
It is also quite simple to surpass the limit without a computer. You only need a pencil to prove that.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
Tesladownunder, Tue Sept 04 2007, 01:08AM
For a graduated colour on a spark look at the yellow one on the left.
TDU
Tesladownunder, Tue Sept 04 2007, 01:08AM
... wrote ...
Well, obviously TDU doesn't think that a photoshopped pic is as good as one made using optical tricks, so lets stop arguing and see more rainbow spark pics!
On that note, I would like to see a pic taken with a filter that has a color gradient across it, such that the sparks can be say red on one end and blue on the other, etc.
Quite right! Down with heathen computer tricks.Well, obviously TDU doesn't think that a photoshopped pic is as good as one made using optical tricks, so lets stop arguing and see more rainbow spark pics!
On that note, I would like to see a pic taken with a filter that has a color gradient across it, such that the sparks can be say red on one end and blue on the other, etc.
For a graduated colour on a spark look at the yellow one on the left.
TDU
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
HV Enthusiast, Tue Sept 04 2007, 02:47AM
Standard digital workflows using photoshop are no different than the workflows you would use in a darkroom when developing film. So a digital photographer stating he/she uses photoshop would be the same if
a film photographer said the film was developed by a lab or themselves. With the exception of journalistic photos, every photo you see in every publication has been manipulated through some sort of digital workflow. Even your own work
that you submit to a magazine.
What I was saying is that if you purposely manipulate a photo by adding things like lightning bolts, cut and pasting, and things like that. Then, i feel its the photographer's responsbility to state what was done.
But for general digital workflow like levels, curves, sharpening, color balance / calibration, then thats just standard photograph tools.
HV Enthusiast, Tue Sept 04 2007, 02:47AM
wrote ...
I have never seen a photo (I think with the exception of yours or Photo forums), where the photographer admitted using Photoshop. So I ask where the honesty is in Photoshop users.
I have never seen a photo (I think with the exception of yours or Photo forums), where the photographer admitted using Photoshop. So I ask where the honesty is in Photoshop users.
Standard digital workflows using photoshop are no different than the workflows you would use in a darkroom when developing film. So a digital photographer stating he/she uses photoshop would be the same if
a film photographer said the film was developed by a lab or themselves. With the exception of journalistic photos, every photo you see in every publication has been manipulated through some sort of digital workflow. Even your own work
that you submit to a magazine.
What I was saying is that if you purposely manipulate a photo by adding things like lightning bolts, cut and pasting, and things like that. Then, i feel its the photographer's responsbility to state what was done.
But for general digital workflow like levels, curves, sharpening, color balance / calibration, then thats just standard photograph tools.
Re: Multi-colored TC sparks - colorwheel effects
uzzors2k, Sat Sept 08 2007, 08:32PM
Using salts is a great way to get colored arcs. I tried boric acid on an electrode today, and it gave completely green arcs. Very beautiful, but unfortunately it seems impossible to capture with a camera. In every picture the arcs look pretty normal because of their brightness. Using a cell phone camera doesn't improve matters either. I have some saltpeter which I'll try tomorrow for purple arcs.
Salts and colors charts:
uzzors2k, Sat Sept 08 2007, 08:32PM
Using salts is a great way to get colored arcs. I tried boric acid on an electrode today, and it gave completely green arcs. Very beautiful, but unfortunately it seems impossible to capture with a camera. In every picture the arcs look pretty normal because of their brightness. Using a cell phone camera doesn't improve matters either. I have some saltpeter which I'll try tomorrow for purple arcs.
Salts and colors charts:
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