Way back in May, I posted a Slideshow on this subject. The images produced in that Slideshow were for the alternative photography project in my Advanced Photography class. This semester, I'm taking Advanced Photo a second time, which means that I get to choose my projects, and I picked electrophotography because it's so darned fun.
I posted this forum topic looking for ideas back in March, and Goodhart gave me the idea to use electrophotography. It didn't work in the limited timespan I had left in that semester, but I've improved upon the process a bit to generate these.
In the first step, I'll try my best to explain what exactly this is, however, it's going to be too long for an intro.
I posted this forum topic looking for ideas back in March, and Goodhart gave me the idea to use electrophotography. It didn't work in the limited timespan I had left in that semester, but I've improved upon the process a bit to generate these.
In the first step, I'll try my best to explain what exactly this is, however, it's going to be too long for an intro.
****OBLIGATORY SAFETY NOTICE****
This Instructable involves the use of high voltages, where "high" means in the thousands of volts range. This should go without saying, but if you are not comfortable working with high voltage, you should not be attempting this, as you will most likely end up in a darkroom with only a safelight to see by, holding both leads of a HV power supply in one hand as you fiddle with your subject with the other. If you do something stupid, this amount of power is potentially deadly. I am not responsible for any damage to you or anything else.
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Most people have never heard of electrophotography, including my photo teacher when I first asked him about it.
As usual, the most succinct definition I can find is on Wikipedia. Essentially, Kirlian photography, or electrophotography, is a technique that creates an image on a light-sensitive medium (sheet film or photo paper) of the corona from an electrically charged object. I don't have any sheet film, so I used photographic paper, which also allows me to use a safelight.
If you simply Google "Kirlian photography," most of the pages are about how it's "taking pictures of auras" or some such nonsense. I will say this plain and simple: that is a load of bull. If they are images of an aura, then apparently quarters have souls. I highly doubt that.
There is depressingly little information out there on electrophotography, and no pictures. The three pages that I found were the aforementioned Wikipedia article, and article from Make magazine (thanks, Goodhart), and this page from Imagesco.com. To my knowledge, this is the only photographic tutorial on the internet-please prove me wrong in the comments if you know somewhere else.
What's in a name? I have been referring to the process as electrophotography, and the result as an electrophotogram. When the word is broken down to it's roots, it has the best description of the actual process. However, the term "electrophotography" is also used to refer to the process in a Xerox copy machine. This is not the same process. I also want to point out that this isn't quite true Kirlian photograhy-that requires much higher voltages than I have at the moment, and uses film, not paper.
As usual, the most succinct definition I can find is on Wikipedia. Essentially, Kirlian photography, or electrophotography, is a technique that creates an image on a light-sensitive medium (sheet film or photo paper) of the corona from an electrically charged object. I don't have any sheet film, so I used photographic paper, which also allows me to use a safelight.
If you simply Google "Kirlian photography," most of the pages are about how it's "taking pictures of auras" or some such nonsense. I will say this plain and simple: that is a load of bull. If they are images of an aura, then apparently quarters have souls. I highly doubt that.
There is depressingly little information out there on electrophotography, and no pictures. The three pages that I found were the aforementioned Wikipedia article, and article from Make magazine (thanks, Goodhart), and this page from Imagesco.com. To my knowledge, this is the only photographic tutorial on the internet-please prove me wrong in the comments if you know somewhere else.
What's in a name? I have been referring to the process as electrophotography, and the result as an electrophotogram. When the word is broken down to it's roots, it has the best description of the actual process. However, the term "electrophotography" is also used to refer to the process in a Xerox copy machine. This is not the same process. I also want to point out that this isn't quite true Kirlian photograhy-that requires much higher voltages than I have at the moment, and uses film, not paper.
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Safety first!
Oh, and B_T_W...
Keep your digital camera and your PC's _far_, (FAR,) away from HighFreqency/HighVoltage generators like these (Violet Ray, etc.).
The spark-discharge they create may not be harmful to you (unless you take them into the bathtub with you), but the radio emissions from their sparking is LETHAL to your cameras and PC's.
Remember: this is not photography (at all) so there's no need for lenses and digital CCD's - - It's just "STENCILING" * with microscopic sparks on photo-sensitive paper - and was never anything otherwise.
- EricPGH
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* "Stenciling" ? - Y'know, like on Martha Stewart, or those caveman wall-paintings: lay your out stretched hand against the wall and spraypaint-over it. Remove your hand and, ta-da! - a stenciled (non-optically derived) image remains.
1.) When a high voltage source's coronal-discharge grounds itself _through_ film or print paper, a small degree of visible light and phosphorescent reactive glow is created on the surface of the photographic emulsion and shows (most particularly well-so,) along the edges of the "shadow" of the object placed on the film or print-paper between the voltage source and the grounding plate. The "image" is simply the footprint of a zillion little sparks sizzling onto and through the film or print paper used... Hence, it's not really an "image" - it's a non-optical artifact of electrical discharge.
2.) The classic full DIY instructions for a standard KP device are in the old NewAge bestseller book "Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain". Other than the one harder to find component, the whole thing could be made for less than $5.00.
3.) The hard to find item is still pretty easy to find at antique flea-markets: Google-up "Violet Master Ray" to see what I'm talking about. These things were basically a mini-TeslaCoil in a Coke bottle shaped handle - putting-out High-Voltage@High-Frequency - strong enough to travel over the outside of the glass bulb "electrodes" which one plugged into the handle. They delivered a mildly uncomfortable sizzle when applied to the client's skin (our coronal discharge). Run that through a light-tight paper envelope sandwiching a door-key and some print paper - develop that and voila! - a KP photo of the "soul" of a door key...
- EricPGH