Pictures of someone welding

AlTheKiller

This may seem like a stupid question and maybe it is, but one of my buddies wants me to take some pictures of him welding and I would love to. When I started thinking about it, could the intense light from the welding damage the camera sensor? I know it can blind a person over time :scratch

just dont want to damage something I cant really afford to replace right now

Moving Pictures

Not likely to do so. Taken dozens - hundreds - of welding pics with no issue. I'll defer to someone else if I'm wrong?

AlTheKiller

Good to know. I didnt think it would do any harm but you never know. thought maybe it could leave a spot or something (like when you look at a light to long) if i kept the shutter open too long by accident

ziggy53

I've taken some welding images and I just used a clean welding filter. The filter cuts both visible light and ultraviolet. Ultraviolet is mostly a concern from electrical/arc welding. (Most lenses naturally cut UV, but the arc light has intense UV, so it's good to filter out most of it.)

You will need to set a custom WB, unless you convert to gray scale.

I would also take some precautions against errant sparks and "pops" of molten metal.

AlTheKiller

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the filters and I'll make sure to play with my WB to get it right

Dan7312

By "Welding filter" do you mean an actual photographic filter or just holding up the kind of lens, like these http://www.phillips-safety.com/store/index.php?cPath=41_66, that goes into a welding hood, in front of the camear lens?

tnx

ziggy53 wrote: »

I've taken some welding images and I just used a clean welding filter. The filter cuts both visible light and ultraviolet. Ultraviolet is mostly a concern from electrical/arc welding. (Most lenses naturally cut UV, but the arc light has intense UV, so it's good to filter out most of it.)

You will need to set a custom WB, unless you convert to gray scale.

I would also take some precautions against errant sparks and "pops" of molten metal.

ziggy53

Dan7312 wrote: »

By "Welding filter" do you mean an actual photographic filter or just holding up the kind of lens, like these http://www.phillips-safety.com/store/index.php?cPath=41_66, that goes into a welding hood, in front of the camear lens?

tnx

Right, just a plain old, rectangular welding filter that would normally fit a welder's mask. Just get one large enough to cover your lens size (the 4 1/2" x 5 1/4" size works for my lenses). The green filter will work, but you need to do a custom WB, or convert to gray scale. (Supposedly there are "gray/black" welder filters, but not that I can find.)

There's a nice write-up of the technique here:

http://www.diyphotography.net/use-welding-glass-as-10-stops-nd-filter

These filters are not quite the quality of photographic optics, but they are better than window and automotive glass (which I've also shot through on occasion, but nothing to do with this application.)

ziggy53

Here is a link to the Flickr group image pool using welding filters for ND and time exposure applications:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/weldingmaskglassfilter/

davev

Maybe a few tips.

You don't want to spend a lot of time looking through the viewfinder while doing this.
I don't know if it can hurt your eyes, but I know you'll see blue dots for a while if you're looking at it to long.

Use a longer lens so the hot stuff doesn't make it you.
The hot sparks, if they hit your lens while still red hot, could fuse to the lens.
If you have a filter on the lens, a uv or polarizer, the sparks would stick to that instead of the lens.

Depending on what kind of look you're trying to get, a long exposure will give you a more dramatic look. (think waterfalls)

This is assuming that your friend is arc or wirefeed welding.
If he's welding with a TIG torch, there will be no sparks. (at least there shouldn't be)

Wirefeed about a half second.



TIG welding.