Kuitpo Embers and Light Painting

Last night as I was fiddling with my little Canon camera at a friend's 18th, I discovered it has an adjustable shutter speed setting! I was so excited and immediately begun to test it out on our bonfire.

The little whirly embers that fly out of the fire is what I angled my lense towards. I started out on 1"(second) but didn't get much so I increased it slowly and each time it produced even better effects than the last. What made it a little tricker is that I was sitting on my boyfriend's lap the whole time, and he had the tendency to move around a bit. The longest setting was 15" and was definitely my favourite because the embers look like spun sugar! Here's my favourite shot:

15" // Embers from the Fire

After about 20 minutes of this I wanted to try more so, with some assistance from boyfriend, I attempted some light painting. Armed with a hot stick and my lovely tripod, I found a darker area in the forest and begun waving my stick around hoping it would turn out. For my first attempts they didn't look too bad:

15" Light Paintings

I know, they're a bit clique but it was a hippie party so it suits the theme ;)

I plan to refine my light painting skills and practice a lot. I'll use a tripod next time around to get even sharper results and try to get J (bf) to make some with me.

-Elle

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