Winter Break Fun

Physics within the Picture 

I love taking pictures and video with my friends. The winter time is beautiful and allows for photographers to capture certain events that happen once a year. The only problem is....the cold. Getting down to -8 degrees some nights I go shooting, it can really make or break the night. All of these pictures and video were taken by ShoeBox Design Labs. 

Fountain of Fire

In this picture a burst of fire looks like a fountain coming out over my friends head. In reality I am squatting twenty feet in front of him swinging a wisk attached to a rope while burning steel wool. Yes, it might sound dangerous but the result is too good to for regrets.

The physics behind me swinging the steel wool is almost like swinging a lasso. Making a circular motion while swinging the rope rapidly builds up a lot of energy that makes the wisk want to take off. However, the centripetal force allows the wisk to be swung around. The speed at which I swung the steel wool would determine the centripetal force, along with the weight of the steel wool.

Look Beyond the Trees

This picture was taken on a frozen lake in Exeter, Rhode Island at around 12:00 at night. Using lights from parked cars behind my friend, diffusing the light with trash bags, and standing in the freezing cold we managed to capture the stars. With a little post production editing it looks like the trees are going up to the starry sky. 

Light travels through air more quickly than through glass, so the camera lens first slows down the speed that the light is traveling. When the light enters the glass at an angel it bends the light in one direction. Similarly the light exits the glass and now the light is bent and going in all different directions. This lights up the image you ultimately get on your camera. The lens sees an image, focuses it, and then transmits its colors, sharpness, and brightness through the camera to the photograph film, which records the image.