Like Poohsticks, only brighter
April 12, 2013 10:05 AM   Subscribe

Find a variety of colored glow sticks. Drop into the top of a waterfall. Take pictures lasting several seconds to several minutes. Enjoy.

More on fromthelenz; click to expand to full screen. How glow sticks work.
posted by Wordshore (42 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
For those of you concerned about pollution, the sticks ... were collected at the end of each exposure,

Okay, I'll allow myself to enjoy the pretty pictures.
posted by RobotHero at 10:11 AM on April 12, 2013 [21 favorites]


Trippy.
posted by carter at 10:14 AM on April 12, 2013


OOOOOOOOOOOoooooohhhhhhh I was thinking you broke OPEN the glow sticks. Ok, carry on. Groovy.
posted by nevercalm at 10:38 AM on April 12, 2013


I saw these somewhere else recently and just gave them a quick look, thinking they were photoshopped. Knowing how it was done definitely makes them more interesting.
posted by orme at 10:49 AM on April 12, 2013


I must be missing something, a light source doesn't move around no matter how long you overexpose a photograph of it. You would have to open the glowsticks to get these effects.
posted by P.o.B. at 11:01 AM on April 12, 2013


Not if you let them bob along in the current, glowing away like mad as they go.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:03 AM on April 12, 2013


I must be missing something, a light source doesn't move around no matter how long you overexpose a photograph of it.

Yeah, not unless you... drop it into swiftly-flowing water
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:04 AM on April 12, 2013


PERHAPS A WATERFALL OF SOME SORT
posted by shakespeherian at 11:10 AM on April 12, 2013 [30 favorites]


No no you hold the glowstick perfectly still and shake the waterfall back and forth in front of the camera
posted by ook at 11:17 AM on April 12, 2013 [16 favorites]


But you need to attach the camera securely to the waterfall, to avoid a shaky image.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:22 AM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


I need some clarification here. Is that waterfall going up or down?
posted by found missing at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


A friend of mine goes out in the dead of night, attaches an LED to his dog's collar, and lets it romp around in the snow. He takes a long exposure of it, just like these waterfalls, and the effect is fucking amazeballs.
posted by Foam Pants at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2013 [5 favorites]


HA HA HA YOU GUSY!
posted by P.o.B. at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


I need some clarification here. Is that waterfall going up or down?

I think that depends on which hemisphere it's in.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


YOUR ON A ROLL!
posted by P.o.B. at 11:36 AM on April 12, 2013


I think that depends on which hemisphere it's in.

And/or which way up they're holding the camera.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:37 AM on April 12, 2013


No no you are shaking the waterfall remember so it goes both ways
posted by ook at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2013


Neither the waterfall nor the glowstick is moving. It is mind that moves.
posted by uosuaq at 11:43 AM on April 12, 2013 [11 favorites]


You guys are not getting it at all.

There is no waterfall.
posted by sparklemotion at 11:44 AM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


It also depends on whether you are shooting for TV or theatrical release; for TV you shake the waterfall, for cinema you shake the ground underneath the waterfall.

STARSHIP ACTING!
posted by CyberSlug Labs at 11:57 AM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


Not if you let them bob along in the current, glowing away like mad as they go.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:03 PM on April 12 [+] [!]


The file name for that .jpg (asdfasdfa.jpg) is the j-peggyist jpg name that ever jpg-ed. I am close to 100% sure I've named files the exact same thing in the past.
posted by elmer benson at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2013


You guys are not getting it at all.
There is no waterfall.


It only exists as a platonic ideal. A neon platonic ideal.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2013


Also, are the lights supposed to go clockwise or counterclockwise in this hemisphere?
posted by elmer benson at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2013


The file name for that .jpg (asdfasdfa.jpg) is the j-peggyist jpg name that ever jpg-ed.

I beg to differ.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:11 PM on April 12, 2013 [5 favorites]


Also, spectacular mention of Poohsticks in the post title. As someone who's read "House on Pooh Corner" to his kid upwards of eleventy billion times, I get it.
posted by elmer benson at 12:23 PM on April 12, 2013 [8 favorites]


If I only had spent more time with Poo...
posted by P.o.B. at 12:26 PM on April 12, 2013


I saw this a few days ago and was wildly jealous that I hadn't thought of it; it's so obvious! And I have a few waterfall kinds of things near my house, so this is totally going to be a summer project.

I particularly like the ones where you can see the glowstick spinning around in the eddies. That just added to the neatness for me.
posted by quin at 12:58 PM on April 12, 2013


Im so glad I dont have to drop acid anymore to see cool things!
posted by SteelDancin at 2:04 PM on April 12, 2013


@elmer benson : I used to do that with my dad but never knew a name existed for it.

Thank you for the rush of warm, happy memories of my childhood, and for reminding me to carry the tradition on with my own kids.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 2:13 PM on April 12, 2013


I beg to differ.

Is it just me, or is image 5 in the first link (the two naked guys sitting in an inflatable paddling pool in their brink pink living room, with a teal blue striped inflatable shark and magenta bukkit, all of which covered in what looks like lime green oatmeal with yellow custard splatters*) not as SFW as the search settings on the link would suggest?



* It's not just me seeing that, right?
posted by titus-g at 2:26 PM on April 12, 2013


It's not just me seeing that, right?

Er...well, maybe...? I re-checked, and it doesn't show up on my results. Maybe the viewer's search settings overwrite the search-string settings? If so, my apologies and I won't post any more image-search links from now on.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:44 PM on April 12, 2013


It's definitely showing as safe search on, so presumably it's google that's not recognising it as something that needs filtering.

It does seem to be custom results: reloading it changes the position, and the first 4 pics are from google+ contacts. Perhaps that's just what google thinks I want to see; and to be fair, the guy on the left does look heart-warmingly happy about the whole thing, it's rather sweet.
posted by titus-g at 3:00 PM on April 12, 2013


It's not just me seeing that, right?

When that came up, immediate thought was "I bet that's the MetaFilter team putting together their monthly podcast".
posted by Wordshore at 3:52 PM on April 12, 2013


podcast

Ah yes, I guess that is a cetacean...

Which means it isn't actually a Neptune's threesome (MMFish) as I initially thought.
posted by titus-g at 4:13 PM on April 12, 2013


Now I am disappointed that titus-g is getting vastly more interesting google search results than I am.

Some people get inflatable fish porn, I get some bearded guy's corporate headshot. Life just isn't FAIR
posted by ook at 4:22 PM on April 12, 2013


ook, go look at pretty waterfalls (waterrises?? I just don't know anymore) - that should cheer you up.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:25 PM on April 12, 2013


Inflatable fish porn was way down the page for me but it was there.
posted by Mitheral at 5:16 PM on April 12, 2013


The NSFW image appears for me, too, just not right at the top (unless I uncheck filtering). I took the time to report the image as appearing in a filtered search.

The file name for that .jpg (asdfasdfa.jpg) is the j-peggyist jpg name that ever jpg-ed.

Heck, I almost thought THAT was the one people were complaining about -- it's the dildo-iest [NOT DILDO-IST] glowstick I've ever seen.
posted by dhartung at 5:25 PM on April 12, 2013


They should print these photos on velvet and then hang them on the wall and shine a blacklight on them
posted by 4ster at 5:59 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


RobotHero: " For those of you concerned about pollution, the sticks ... were collected at the end of each exposure,

Okay, I'll allow myself to enjoy the pretty pictures
"

Honestly, I don't believe they could have collected them all. Some may get caught on a rock halfway down, or get forced downstream too fast; no one is going to go crawling down a rocky wet creek in the dark chasing a glowstick.
posted by Red Loop at 6:14 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


I thought pooh sticks were these.
posted by marchismo at 6:56 PM on April 12, 2013


Ul de Rico was right!
posted by luvcraft at 7:44 PM on April 12, 2013


« Older Why Etsy Doesn't Have a Gallery in New York   |   “This is historic legislation, and it’s time to... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments