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Abstract Light Painting on the Beach
Orbs, Dome and Wool Spin
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An orb on the beach
Moon lit orb
Abstract Light Painting with Wool Spin
Lightman Under Fire

Playing with Fire - Fireworks in Light Painting

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Date Posted: Nov 5, 2011

Fireworks are in all the shops at the moment so I thought I'd grab a few and try them out as a dramatic light painting tool. I didn't want anything too big or too noisy so I settled for roman candles which give off several nice bursts which leave trails from the moment they fire. This will allow me to easily incorporate them seamlessly into my shot.

Safety Notice

Before I start to tell you how wonderful fireworks are, I'd hate to hear of anybody getting hurt so I must give a warning on safety. Fireworks are dangerous and if used incorrectly can cause serious injury and burns. If you plan on using fireworks in photography ensure you take all the precausions you can. Stand well back after lighting them, don't play with them and don't take any risks. Now, you have been warned, I won't be held responsible for any injury caused after reading this article, so just be careful.

Ok, with that out of the way lets get going...

Well my roman candles were certainly noisier than I was expecting. For my first outing I took them to a disused railway tunnel, away from anyone and everyone. When using them inside a tunnel they sound extremely loud with lots of echo! I got a few shots in the tunnel then headed on to my next location.

I'd stopped off at a couple of old WW2 ROC Posts a little while back and revisited with my fireworks. The Observation Post doesn't have much roof left so I can get inside and aim the fireworks out. I managed to get one of the bursts into a tree, but no harm done luckily!

I spent a fair bit of time down on the beach playing with my fireworks. A large blank canvas with plenty of non-flammable space. I think the beach was my favourite out of these three locations as it provided plenty of scope to be a bit more creative (I'm a big fan of abstract light paintings).

I throughly enjoyed incorporating the fireworks into my light painting images, and hope you will too if you fancy giving it a go. Just be careful and don't take any risks.