Strobo-Rotography Abstract

Canon 20D, Canon 24-70L IS @50mm f/9 1 s

This image was created through a combination of two techniques
I've been experimenting with: photographing rotating objects
(which I've called rotography for fun), and illuminating subjects
with strobe light (hence 'strobo-rotography'). Photoshop
compositing was also involved.

The final image looks very different from what I started with,
so I thought it might be interesting to explain how it was done.

Step 1
I started with this image: a rotating spoon illuminated with
strobe light timed so as to show the spoon not continuously
but rather at a series of discrete positions.



Step 2

I then cropped to eliminate everything but the hurricane-like

pattern created by the tops of the spoons, and added some color,

yielding this image:

Step 3
I then copied the preceding image, flipped it horizontally, and
changed the color to blue:


Step 4
Next, I combined the images from steps 2 and 3 so that they
partially overlapped:



Step 5
Then, I copied the image from step 4, flipped it vertically,
and combined it with the step 4 image:


Step 6
Finally, I copied the step 5 image, rotated it 90 degrees, and
combined it with the step 5 image to produce the result shown above.