Tesla coil long exposure series No 1

In this series I will explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. These have been popular in international media for me.

But first the basics: The key feature of spark photography is that a spark is a sub microsecond event. It cannot be blurred by motion.  They are repetitive (bursts of perhaps 10 at millisecond intervals, repeated at perhaps 20 – 40ms or longer) but chaotic and bursts may not follow the same track.

                    

The left photo is a 1/100 sec exposure of a small Tesla coil in a shipping container which has picked up only one spark. Background is shaded sunlight. Sparks are 2-3 feet long.

Second photo shows an 8 second exposure with many sparks and is a much more dramatic photo. Background is night and all light is from the sparks with a very high bluish colour temperature.

Note that your eye summates over perhaps 1/20th second, so what is a realistic and not “long” exposure is moot. Even down to microsecond exposure photos I have done there are wonderful things happening.Tesla coil long exposure series No 2   Breakout rod In this series I explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. In the first of the series a long exposure of sparks was shown with sparks originating from more than one place on the top terminal or toroid. However, for many artistic effects, I want sparks from one position only. If there is a point or short rod the sparks will jump from this point. This rod can be from inches to many feet. In the photo below from a larger Tesla coil, there is a rod about 1 foot long acting as a breakout point. Note the bright white “spark” to the ladder and the purple branching “streamers” which fade out into the air.

Series 1

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/e9rR6fgtReX

Series 2

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/e9rR6fgtReX