Some recent photos from Dún Laoghaire – the locations used were around the 40 foot in Sandycove and Coliemore Harbour, on two different nights.
This technique involves using long exposures at twilight (or later) to capture the trails produced by spinning burning steel (wire) wool.
The steel wool is held in a metal container (e.g. a kitchen whisk !) with a rope attached. Once lit, using a battery, it’s spun around to produce these trails.

A bit of trial and error is involved to produce a good result – in terms of location, exposure and the actual spinning itself. However, the results can be spectacular, if everything works out just right.

Last but not least, care needs to be taken that a safe location is chosen. The burning particles are generally small, and burn very briefly – but could still cause problems if they landed in the wrong place.

These photos were taken with a group from my local photography society – Offshoot. If you’re interested in photography, have a look at the website and come along to one of the regular meetings.