Steet wear & light painting: experimenting with the students

*This post was written by Riccardo Manfreda during the I.I.S.S. 'A. De Pace' in Lecce. The BTS video was made with Milena Pertoso. Special Guest: Riccardo Mancarella!

We took photos with the light painting technique with steel wool using a boy who deals with street wear clothing.

 Light painting, street wear & steel wool

Light painting with steel wool consists of taking a photo with a long exposure time (2-3 seconds). The effect of the fiery circle from which the sparks start is produced of steel wool lit by a flame placed inside a kitchen whisk fixed with a rope. The locations were a secondary road in an industrial area and an abandoned cottage to avoid the possibility of causing a fire.

The camera was positioned on a tripod in order to avoid vibrations since with the long shutter speed there was a risk that the photos would come out shaky. I dealt with the shooting of the backstage but above all in the movement of the flaming steel wool.

I have always been fascinated by fire and its play of light, I really enjoyed participating in the making of the photos and I was satisfied with the results.

The effect I like most is when sparks meet an obstacle such as the floor or walls.

I can't wait to do it again.