These photos were taken on January 15, 2002. The subject is a cheap knockoff of an optic fiber lamp. For those of you unfamiliar with them, basically they are a bundle of optic fibers lit from the ends. This model, like most, has a rotating colored gel between the lamp and the end of the optic fiber bundle. This unit also has a motorized bracket, which turns the fiber bundle slowly, as well. Aside from some minor airbrush work to remove unsightly features on the wall in the photo above, no alterations have been made to these pictures. The results were actually pretty surprising.
Here's some pictures of the lamp in normal operation. The camera is mounted on a tripod, looking down from about two feet above the lamp, at approximately 15 degrees from vertical. The Olympus digital camera I used has an automatic shutter control. In this case, I would guess the shutter speed was set to nearly a quarter-second (it's maximum time), since the light level was so low. So, there is some interesting streaking effects as the rotating bracket moves the fibers while the shutter is open. This is particularly apparent in the lower left picture. I must have accidentally brushed the fibers while steading the camera. The blue haziness is actually the light from several dozen fibers swaying under the impact.
Here's some more interactive photos. Basically, I just shoved my hand into the fibers, pushing them aside. Note the "baseball glove" effect, as the fibers conform to the outlines of my hand. The streaking effect is light leakage out the sides of the fibers. Had this been a better lamp, with more efficient optical fibers, less light would have escaped. In this case, I prefer the halo. It reminds me of Kirkian photographs. The discrete arc of dots along the lower half of the picture are actually LEDs. This lamp has a circle of LEDs on the base that flash in sequence. It's actually pretty cheezy. This accounts for the red arc in the upper left photo, as well. The arced fibers act as lenses, catching and bending the light from one of the LEDs as it shines up through them.
More pictures of my hand. I really like this effect.
And a picture of my fist. This one was used as an artist's rendering of a special effect for a fictitious television show. The idea was to show a burst of light from a punch by a semi-mystical martial artist. Shades of Bruce Leroy and "the Glow," from Eighties classic Berry Gordy's the Last Dragon.