DMC-FX7
ƒ/5
17.4 mm
1/30
100

This is just a red laser pointed into the camera, creating an array of photonic textures…

The monochromatic red laser light saturates the CCD to white and yellow at the core.

Part of the laser art set.

8 responses to “sparks”

  1. naturally, i love it

  2. Are the filaments artefacts of the sensor, camera optics, or of the laser optics?

  3. sparky: fascinating question…. (maybe because it’s your namesake…=) I don’t think it has to do with the laser. I don’t know. If they were parallel or regular radial lines, it would provide a clue. The mix of directions is perplexing. Perhaps some reflections off aberrations in the CCD Imager cover glass?

    Anyone else have an idea of what it might be?

  4. My inclination would be to move the light source and examine how the structures change.

    This is just a little HeNe laser? Or even simpler – a diode?

    Incidentally, my Flickr name originates with an Engrish spelling error, on a long gone Japanese softdrink, misread:

    http://www.geocities.com/sparkligbeatnic/index.html

    Carbonated guarana juice is just what you’d expect a Sparkling Beatnic to drink, isn’t it?

  5. It’s just a simple red laser diode (cheap laser pointer).

    The structures change a lot with movement (see the laser art Set). I am doing this by hand with full telephoto, and slight motions make a big difference.

  6. I wonder if these could be due to scattering of light from (normally invisible) marks on the lens? Changing the direction of the light source changes which marks scatter into the direction of the sensor?
    If this is so, then the shape of the marks might suggest that they are traces left by cleaning the lens.

    The black striations along the length of the fibrous structures are also interesting. Interference patterns?

    If this is a fairly generic pattern, then someone working in optics may have seen it and should be able to give us more insight.

  7. Hi,

    Cool pictures using simple techniques.
    Have a peek at my Laser Art using a Laser Projector
    " http://www.flickr.com/photos/laserlover/ "

    Feel free to post a comment If you enjoy them.

    Take Care
    Rick

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