# Photog Dopers. Suggest 'experiments' in photography. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270 "2008-12-15T18:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/1 "2008-12-15T18:43:07Z")
I have this idea. I have a camera with a 5 frames per second burst mode. I am thinking I’ll set it up on my small tripod, point it at a cup of water. Devise some way of dropping droplets of water into it (I don’t have a pipette). Hold the shutter button down. Drop the drop. Look at the results. That’s a fairly obvious thing to do, but I’d still like to try it. The second is ‘light drawing’. Using a long shutter speed in a dark place, and drawing a picture with a small maglite (with the end bit taken off to produce a more concentrated, intense light. Another obvious one. Can you suggest some less obvious, but equally (or more) interesting things to try? Not just for me, for any enthusiastic amateur obviously. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/2 "2008-12-15T18:58:15Z")
Take some extremely long exposure photos of things that normally are photographed with short exposures. Use UV light as your illumination source. Take photos from a cat’s perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/3 "2008-12-15T19:38:32Z")
Put that 5 frames per second thing on a very animated child. Photograph ugly things from very close up to far away. Sometimes you can find an interesting (even beautiful) photo series. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/4 "2008-12-15T19:46:30Z")
Long exposure star trails are fun; you can also ‘paint’ foreground objects with you maglight. It’s even better if you can put some colored cellophane over the light. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/5 "2008-12-15T19:55:40Z")
Get a macro lens. Explore the world of bugs and lint. Make a [pinhole lens](http://www.camerahacker.com/EOS_Pin-Hole_Lens/index.shtml) for your camera. If you do try the light painting idea, read up on the effects of [second curtain flash (or sync)](http://oreilly.com/pub/h/1771). Get a [magic arm](http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BG4231/?t=GB01&a=CA01&CAWELAID=36794905) and clamp your camera to your [bike](http://www.flickr.com/photos/65571116@N00/2696573350/), car, boat, skateboard, etc. Experiment with longer exposures. Get a [lens baby](http://lensbaby.com/lenses.php). ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/6 "2008-12-15T20:09:06Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Get a [magic arm](http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BG4231/?t=GB01&a=CA01&CAWELAID=36794905) and clamp your camera to your [bike](http://www.flickr.com/photos/65571116@N00/2696573350/), car, boat, skateboard, etc. Experiment with longer exposures. I’ve had a similar idea for my camcorder, attaching it to my small tripod and then seatbelting that into the passenger seat of my car. I guess I could do the same with my camera and a long exposure. Ironically I have a picture I took on holiday of this very effect… [![](https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/lobley/a-tunnel-near-monaco.jpg) ](https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/lobley/a-tunnel-near-monaco.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/7 "2008-12-15T20:56:12Z")
Similar ideas I have explored: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tropicalnadia/148539624/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/tropicalnadia/148539624/) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/53/117044411_2f3b86b6e2_z.jpg "Copenhagen at night") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tropicalnadia/117044411/) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/42/124983670_b4c48665bf_b.jpg "Molten glass") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tropicalnadia/124983670/) ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/8 "2008-12-15T21:26:38Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The second is ‘light drawing’. Using a long shutter speed in a dark place, and drawing a picture with a small maglite (with the end bit taken off to produce a more concentrated, intense light. This enjoyed a bit of popularity this past year online. [http://jpgmag.com/photos/1078309](http://jpgmag.com/photos/1078309) [http://jpgmag.com/photos/1284671](http://jpgmag.com/photos/1284671) [http://jpgmag.com/photos/1177654](http://jpgmag.com/photos/1177654) NSFWish: [http://jpgmag.com/photos/1174815](http://jpgmag.com/photos/1174815) A different take: [http://jpgmag.com/photos/220577](http://jpgmag.com/photos/220577) [http://jpgmag.com/photos/889625](http://jpgmag.com/photos/889625) More: [http://www.jpgmag.com/blog/2008/09/jpg\_meetup\_lomography\_photojoj\_1.html](http://www.jpgmag.com/blog/2008/09/jpg_meetup_lomography_photojoj_1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photog-dopers-suggest-experiments-in-photography/477270/9 "2008-12-15T21:32:13Z")
Those are awesome! And so are yours **Mighty\_Girl**. I remember seeing one where some guy put himself in several places in his dorm room. Looked quite freaky seeing what seemed like one photograph of six perfectly identical people.