To create this image I used a laser sheet, made of a laser pointer and a special optic, to show the steam coming off of boiling water. The water has reached its boiling temperature, and the water boils into water vapor. The gas is at a high pressure and diffuses into the low pressure areas, this creates a chaotic and beautiful flow.
Update 2/14/2018:
So I did another experiment today, but I changed cameras. This time I’m using a Nikon D3000 with an 85 mm lens, this made it easier to get a much closer shot. There was minimal cropping so the focus is much better this time around.
The flow shows a turbulent wake, this is a cloud of steam rising out of a pan that is boiling water. Instead of using a laser sheet this time, I just changed the shutter speed to 1.3 seconds and moved the laser along the pan so that it would capture light from the whole flow profile. This created the same laser sheet effect without any optics. This was a lot easier to do actually because I just setup my camera with a tripod, hit the capture button then moved the laser. There were a couple cool images. Also, I used a green laser this time because it is easier to see, also it’s more powerful than my purple one!
Link to report: GetWetReport_JulianClaudio
52 Comments. Leave new
Julian,
First and foremost your idea to use a laser sheet and boiling water to create this flow is incredible, I would have never thought of it! Also, I originally liked the original purple flow, but I’m glad you revised it. The green second image is so much crisper and I believe even more visually appealing than the original! I’m glad someone in this class is taking the time to update old photos!
Nice color scheme and visualization of the flow. The image could be a bit sharper
Art: Great contrast of colors. The different color laser really has a positive effect.
Flow: Very interesting flow, the steam appears to have a high Reynolds number because of how fast you pulled off the top.
Technique: I like how the light is at the bottom but has the reflection at the very top of the photo. The crop frame is perfect.
Setup of the image is fascinating. I love the composure of the image and the intense purple color. A little more focus would go a long way.
Art: Beautiful image. The color is lovely. The swirls are fascinating, and it’s an interesting concept. It would be nice to have a more focused image though!
Flow: Fascinating concept, and something new I’ve learned!
Technique: If you’re having trouble with focus, I’d recommend 1. a tripod 2. A timer setting, and 3. a stand in object to focus on before you take the photo.
Art : i like the color of image and how the flame behaves
Flow : The vortex is visble
Tech : The color contrast is really good
– The art here is cooling and satisfying as the blues/purples are pleasing and effective colors.
– The flow clearly illustrates phenomena with controlled laser beams where details are visible
– The photographic technique seemed to have lower exposure as the image is very dark but in return, this helps the LEDs pop.
Very cool color and flame photo. I love how Julian used laser pointer to show the detailed darkness behind. The details were very clearly shown.
The color of choice is very interesting and beautiful. The details are pretty good as well as the exposure.
I’m curious about that purple line on the bottom though, what does it mean?
Very captivating composition. The image heavily illustrates the color of the laser and the flow of the steam as it disperses into the surrounding area.
Art: The use of colors is really nice. The blues and purples contrast extremely well.
Flow: The steam is clearly visible and is outlined well in the photo.
Technique: I think the focus or motion didn’t get captured properly, but I think the light at the bottom is a little offsetting. Cropping this or adusting the light in this area to make it pop less might make it more interesting.
-Colors are very aesthetically pleasing
-Shows an interesting example of transient flow phenomena, physics can be easily seen
-Could work on improving focus, but this can be difficult with phenomena that happen quickly like yours
The colors in this image are very nice and give a decent contrast to the background, but you could probably improve the focus on your lens. As you said, you struggled to get enough hands on the lid and camera at the same time, so maybe asking one more person to help would improve this next time.
It is a great image, beautiful color. It is very interesting to see an image with laser sheet. I really like the way you crop the image, the laser is pointing from the left bottom corner towards upper right. The focus of the cloud could be improved, or increase the depth of field by decrease the aperture.
The color used to light up the steam is a great choice. It brings a unique aspect to this image. The choice to use steam really gives a great demonstration of the flow. The depth of field seems a little limited, maybe try playing with different camera positions to capture the steam with a better focus.
The colors of the image were really cool and interesting. It does a good job of illustrating the way in which air and water vapor interact when one is hotter than the other. It also does a good job of illustrating the fluid dynamics of a wake from an object. The focus seems to be a bit off and I was wondering why you didn’t crop our the bottom of the photo with the laser light showing?
I love the chaotic flow, it clearly illustrates what is going on with the turbulent flow as the water vapor boils off. It would be awesome to see a view a little further back to get more of the flow.
The color is striking, and the turbulent flow of the steam is shown really well. The focus could be a little sharper, but the setup is great!
Art is very interesting and beautiful! The details of the flow are visible and well captured. I would recommend framing the image before hand and taking some test shots. A remote might be helpful for this technique. Great concept and use of technology.
This image is extremely pleasing to the eye. The color on this image is awesome. This clearly demonstrates the purpose of your experiment. The image is slightly out of focus, but is still a great image.
The colors are amazing; one of my favorite colors is that ultraviolet. One can clearly see the turbulent mushroom clouds (Transient wake of a disk). The focus could be a bit better. What I did with mine was autofocus on the area I want, then set it to manual so it doesn’t change.
Very interesting picture, I really love to see how steam flows under lasers. Flow is understandable and very high quality picture, focus is good and depth of field is good.
The color contrast with the dark in the middle surrounded by the pink and light blue around the edges gives the image a nice depth. It is cool to see the light source as well as the reflection in the flow of the steam. The image is a bit fuzzy, so experimenting with different focus could improve the sharpness of the image.
The colors and aesthetic of this picture are captivating. The dark purples really make the steam stand out. Placing an object where the steam will be and focusing on that might help with the focus. This illustrates the flow of steam really well.
Lighting and color are superb. Composition is nice. If you could find a way to make the image sharper I’d hang the picture in my house.
The “Purple Haze” aesthetic is enjoyable, and fun to look at. The flow is coherent with the artistic style, but there is a bit of discontinuity between the bottom half and top half, so some cropping and focus would make this image look really great.
This has excellent timing for the capture of the smoke. Have you considered cropping the bottom half of the image to focus on the steam?
The mix of colors in this picture look really cool. Shining the laser pointer at the flow was a great idea because it allows us to see the flow of the steam once you removed the lid from the boiling water. Your focus seems a little too close, but overall great picture.
I like the colors in this image a lot. It has a great aesthetic to it with the swirls running up the side. It clearly shows the details in the vapor and the light underneath adds a cool effect. The photo looks to be a little out of focus but its by no means distracting.
This image shows the phenomenon really well with the steam curling up towards the top of the image. It would have been interesting if you could have stepped back a little to get the full steam cloud overall. I liked the image a lot!
The photo is very crisp which makes the flow obvious and interesting.
Very good artwork and imagery. Some thought obviously went into setting up the shot. Maybe get a bit closer with the focus
I like the colors and the contrast a lot. The way that you can see the steam creating vortexes in the air is well demonstrated. The aspect ratio on the image makes it a little difficult to look at on the website, would adding gray bars to both sides of the image help this?
This is incredibly aesthetically pleasing. It very well demonstrates the flow phenomena of steam becoming turbulent. The use of a laser is a unique touch and make the colors really pop, and the lighting is great to really visualize the flow.
In the future, I think the focus could be slightly improved, and maybe timed more with the exact opening of the pot lid. This is probably hard to do, but a better focus would definitely improve it.
-This is a very interesting image with great colors.
-This is a creative flow visualization.
-I think the focus makes the image very ascetically pleasing.
Beautiful colors and form! The phenomena of the steam escaping is clearly highlighted by the lighting of the scene and the flow characteristics are illustrated due to the highlights and shadows of the scene. Furthermore, there is depth of the scene due to the range of colors and the difference of brightness between the darkest shadow and the brightest highlights.
Art:
I like the composition and contrast of colors. You did a very nice job, it looks great!
Flow:
This nicely shows meandering stream lines. It looks turbulent.
Photographic Technique:
It’s pretty cool that you pulled this shot off. It’s a little hard to pick out the fine details of the flow in this picture.
I like the contrast of the image. It looks like the image is slightly out of focus, but could be due to a slow shutter trying to show the flow. I like being able to see the laser at the bottom, but I wonder if it would be more of a focus if you cropped the image.
I wonder what the flow would look like if you translated the laser.
Art: The colors and contrast are great in this image, and provides for a soothing aesthetic.
Flow: the laser clearly shows the flow in the vapor, and the details are visible.
Technique: perhaps increase focus?
The turbulent flow of the steam coming off of the boiling water is shown really well here. The colors are beautiful and I like how the image is taller than it is wide, it really emphasizes the flow phenomenon. The bright line at the bottom of the photo is a little distracting as it stands out more than the rest of the image.
The image has beautiful flow characteristics from the arising steam. The method used clearly shows the phenomena that was aimed for.
I think the artistic vision of the piece was realized, compositionally the image is pleasing with the main light sources on the top and bottom of the image. The flow of the steam was illuminated well by the laser sheet, although only of a cross section, however this was the intent of the photo. Photographically, every setting on the camera seems perfect except the focus might be a bit off.
Very nice idea, beautiful flow!
I liked how the color is going from purple to blue then to purple again!
Would be better if you cropped the image, and tried to increase the focus.
Awesome image! I like the flow of color in this image and specifically, how it highlights the pressure drops. I wonder if you could see the flow outline a little more clearly though, maybe improve focus?
Make sure to set your WordPress image size to “Original”!
Art: Very aesthetically pleasing, pink and blue make for a good color scheme
Flow: Vortex motion clearly visible, physics understandable
Photo Technique: May benefit from some sharpening, but good choice of angle
Wow, this is a beautiful image. I love the color scheme you incorporated and the flow of the steam is very visually stimulating. Why is there a brighter “straight” line on the bottom of your image? I was just curious because it definitely stands out. The pure black background also helps your image quality.
High artistic value, nice job with post processing. Fluid flow looks great, kind of like a weird lava lamp. It looks like the image is out of focus or there might be motion blur.
Art: I like the blue and purple hues in the steam, visibly exhibiting steam flow
Flow: This is controlled and reproducible
Technique: Shawdowing is detailed and the contrast is in depth
This is a really cool idea. I definitely want to see other photos you took plus your workspace!
Art: satisfied an aesthetic. Very beautiful piece of art.
Flow: creative flow with purple light. Very good looking flow image.
Photographic technique: the contrast range is amaging and phenomenal
This feels like a painting to me – I’m enthralled.