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When I began experimenting with digital cameras several years ago, they were still fairly low-resolution (or, at least those that were affordable). I bought my wife a spectacular 2.0 megapixel (!) HP camera for Christmas in 2004 and, after several days of playing around, I found that it had a few interesting limitations.
Due to the quality and speed of its image processing software, the camera had a difficult time taking a sharp, stable image without adequate lighting. One night, as I was attempting to photograph the television, I noticed that the camera would produce an odd smear of images if I shook it back and forth while pointing toward a light source. Variations in speed and line produced an array of different image types, from blurred trails capped by a single image, to odd stuttered frames floating in space. The technique felt like drawing with light, and looked like something caught between photography (single image) and video (multiple frames).
I’ve taken hundreds of these photos over the past five years. I eventually graduated from the HP to my own 3.2 megapixel Nikon Coolpix. It has its own remarkable ‘Fireworks’ setting, which allows me to capture longer exposures and more intricate line patterns. As digital camera technology has improved, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to overwhelm newer cameras’ image sensors. Thankfully, camera phones have lagged behind in image quality, so I now tend to rely heavily on my iPhone’s camera. It smears quite well.
I have several photo sets available on Flickr for easier gallery-style perusal. I've chosen a few of my favorites to highlight the process described above. In all cases, no post-processing or image editing was applied.
The image to the right is one of the earliest I took using the 'camera writing' technique, and it remains one of my favorites. If I remember correctly, the floating head is either a newscaster or a game show contestant. The long exposure captured a number of frames, so her expression actually changes across the image. It has an eerie, violent quality that reminds me of my recent video work, Locks.
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I'm still not certain how I managed to have a single image from the television extend outward while the remainder of the image stayed reasonably stable. It was a happy accident that I've rarely been able to replicate.
The image to the left was captured with my Nikon Coolpix, set on 'Fireworks' mode. This mode allows for a much longer exposure, so I have time to make a number of moves before an image is captured.
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I found that a darkened room created the most interesting ghostly image without revealing the television set or any background details. In comparison to the final image, the television set is quite small. I laid on my bed around 10-15 feet from the 13" Magnavox monitor, which was suspended from its metal wall support approximately 7 feet from the ground.
I especially like the two heads that emerge from the upper left of the image and the smear of light that emerges behind them. If you look to the lower right, you can still see the 'We' logo and the MUTE icon from the television screen.
This final image was taken at the Richmond Botanical Gardens during their annual Christmas light show. The Christmas lights are the primary source of illumination in the gardens, so I figured they might produce an effect similar to a television screen.
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I took over one hundred photos (this time with my iPhone camera) and this was among my favorites. The individual lights produced interesting thread- or fiber-like trails emanating from the primarily light source.