Spontaneous Combustion
(Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens – 1/640 second, f/4, ISO 100)
What you are seeing is a capture of a lightbulb in the process of burning out. To create the shot, my friend Harley and I removed the glass enclosure of a standard household lightbulb (while leaving the innards intact) and powered it up in a pitch black room. The result was an immediate burn-out, which we were all too ready to photograph. The red hue on the smoke was added in post-processing.
Here’s one more I did inverting the shot:
(Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens – 1/1000 second, f/4, ISO 100)
For detailed instructions on making a similar shot, visit DIYPhotography.net.
UPDATE: For those requesting (here and on Digg), here is the top shot with minimal adjustment (contrast, crop and noise reduction):
(Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens – 1/640 second, f/4, ISO 100)



61 Comments
so pretty!
| Lace | March 2, 2007 at 8:37 am
I finally got around to filming and posting mine. Thank you for the inspiration!
| Lucid Movement | March 10, 2007 at 10:41 am
Any chance of getting a copy of the full-res image for home use? I have no intention of using it for anything else. If so, please post here saying so and I’ll email directly. Thanks! :)
| Anonymous | March 12, 2007 at 12:29 pm
“Any chance of getting a copy of the full-res image for home use?”
Contact me via email and we’ll work it out… (rich – at – leggnet.com)
| LeggNet | March 13, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for the inspiration!
This is what I came up with…
http://www.k0zmik.net/blog/?p=19
but the smoke is a bit blurry :(
| K0ZMiK | April 1, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Wonderful exposure.
| Rock Kauser | September 4, 2007 at 5:21 am
It;s beautiful! A wonderful capture of the colors and light, but a bit to phallic if I do say so myself.
| Anonymous | May 20, 2008 at 4:55 am
I love this ! I have used this idea as part of my college photography project. The brief is Similar but different using three shots in Monochrome. Ive done the clear bulb in holder then same shot with a dimmer switch to make it glow. Then this shot for the third. Id like to thank Rich Legg for putting the tutorial up here, it helped me hugely. I will be referencing this site and Rich's shot in my college work. Kind regards Rick.
| Rick Waterson | November 12, 2009 at 2:06 pm
How does salt aid combustion ???
| John | May 4, 2010 at 2:57 am
Is their a word equatin involving an oxidizing agent for combustion
| John | May 4, 2010 at 3:20 am
[...] site de l’auteur : LeggNet’s Digital Capture D’autres photos de combustion : Pebley Pages Le making-off : Pebly Pages Un autre article : A [...]
| Combustion spontanée | Photographie - Pixfan.com | May 26, 2013 at 7:51 am