Light painting is something that’s been around for a while, but has really come into prominence over the last year or two. There are plenty of ways to do it, but one of the coolest is to start some steel wool on fire and get it spinning.
It’s common sense that you should protect yourself when doing something like this, but folks don’t always think about their cameras. Photographer Jon Beard learned the hard way when one of the sparks from the steel wool hit the front of his Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G and attached itself to his lens.
“As I was spinning, I saw a nice bright flash from my camera,” says Beard. Even though I couldn’t be sure where it hit exactly, I was pretty sure it hit the lens.” Further examination revealed that instead of the chip in the lens he had expected, the molten steel had attached itself to the lens. A simple filter here could have saved a whole lot of trouble.
(via DIY Photography)
