Create A Physiogram
Digital Photographer|Issue 205

It’s amazing what you can do with a torch and a piece of string in a darkened room!

Create A Physiogram

Difficulty level: Intermediate

Time taken: One hour

Before we know it, the long, hot days of summer we’ve all enjoyed this year will be over and autumn will be upon us – dark evenings, dodgy weather and that familiar question all photographers ask themselves when it’s pouring with rain outside: “Okay, so what do I do now?”

Well, here’s one technique that will definitely help you while away a wet day and produce some amazing images at the same time – creating physiograms. Never heard of it? Don’t worry, most photographers haven’t. But once you try it, you’ll be hooked.

The idea behind this technique is that you suspend a small torch (you can buy them from £1 shops) on the end of a length of string in a darkened room directly over your camera. Set the torch spinning, then use a long exposure to record the patterns traced in the darkness by the torch bulb. The results are infinitely variable and you can make the patterns as simple or as complex as you like. The images are also much easier to create than they look, so what’s not to like?

Right

Painting with light This is the kind of result you can expect by spinning the torch several different ways and placing colour filters on your lens during a single exposure © Lee Frost

Shooting steps

1 Attach your string Tie a small pen torch to a length of string, then attach the other end to a light fitting on the ceiling in a room in your house so you can suspend the torch above ground. The length of the string isn’t crucial, but start with approx 1m and see how you get on.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 205-Ausgabe von Digital Photographer.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 205-Ausgabe von Digital Photographer.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERAlle anzeigen
Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 Art
Digital Photographer

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 Art

This is anot-so-standard zoom lens, as Matthew Richards discovers on a test drive

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 285
AstrHori 120mm f/2.8 Macro 2x
Digital Photographer

AstrHori 120mm f/2.8 Macro 2x

Matthew Richards finds out if double the magnification means couble the value

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 285
DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite
Digital Photographer

DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite

DXO's flagship editor gets an upgrade but, asks Rod Lawton, are the results worth it?

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Issue 285
Panasonic Lumix GH7
Digital Photographer

Panasonic Lumix GH7

Gareth Bevan thinks a new sensor and AF make this the hybrid camera to beat

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Issue 285
STORM CHASE
Digital Photographer

STORM CHASE

Paige Vincent on the adrenaline rush, the risks and her passion for shooting in the face of storms

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Issue 285
PROTECT YOUR IMAGES FROM AI
Digital Photographer

PROTECT YOUR IMAGES FROM AI

Pandora's box is open and, for better or worse, Alis here to stay. Here’s how you can protect your images from being used to train Al models without your permission

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Issue 285
CREATE AI COMPOSITES
Digital Photographer

CREATE AI COMPOSITES

Serge Ramelli explains how to make AI work for you, by creating otherwise impossible portrait backgrounds

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Issue 285
Paul Wilkinson's top 25... PORTRAIT TIPS & TRICKS
Digital Photographer

Paul Wilkinson's top 25... PORTRAIT TIPS & TRICKS

Even with so much information out there, taking perfect portraits can be hard work. Pro photographer Paul Wilkinson guides us through this huge genre with his pearls of wisdom

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Issue 285
MASTER MINIMALISM
Digital Photographer

MASTER MINIMALISM

Less is more in the world of minimalism. Rebecca Greig explores what makes minimalist captures work

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 285
LITTLE WONDERS
Digital Photographer

LITTLE WONDERS

Kim Bunermann meets Louise B to discuss the joys and challenges of working with newborns and freshly baked parents

time-read
8 Minuten  |
Issue 285