My first time Shooting Steel Wool

So I'd seen steel wool photography and thought it looked so cool but I'd never actually tried it. So one evening I gave @jchauhan a call and asked if he'd be interested in giving it a go. Sure enough he was up for it. We grabbed our cameras, paid a trip to a local Wickes to pick up some steel wool, grabbed a few other supplies and headed out. These are some of my favourite shots...

The way to shoot steel wool photography is to basically get your hands on a whisk (yup, you read that right, a whisk like you might use to beat some eggs and flour), a rope (although I used some bungee cord that was going really cheap in my local tesco) and of course some steel wool (make sure you get the fine grade steel wool or you'll really struggle, we learnt the hard way!). Attach the whisk to the rope, stuff steel into the whisk, light it up and spin fast. You want to spin fast so the wool burns faster giving you more sparks! You should already have your camera setup on a tripod, set to take a long exposure shot.

I've been out on a few steel wool shoots now and learned a few tips and tricks since the first, these are:

Tip 1 - Wear gloves! To protect yourself while handling the steel wool as well as from potential burns.

Tip 2 - Take some bog roll (toilet paper) with you, stuff a few sheets into the whisk with the steel wool, it'll help get it going at the beginning. If you use fine grade steel wool you might not have to do this, but we could only get medium grade and struggled without stuffing the extra fuel in.

Tip 3 - If you have a cook's torch (like a mini blow torch for cooking) use it to light the the wool, it's a hell of a lot easier than using lighters. If you haven't got one then no biggie, just make sure you take a few lighters. On the first shoot we broke the only 2 lighters we had and ended up having to stop the shoot to get more.

Tip 4 - I know it's common sense but be careful not to burn yourself!

Tip 5 - Make sure have plenty steel wool, it's a lot of fun! :)

If you have any questions or advice, leave a comment below.
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Peace! :D