Tesla Coils@Boston Science Museum

Capturing a Tesla coil mid-discharge is less about speed and more about timing. The arcs of electricity, chaotic and brief, demand an intuitive trigger finger and a dose of luck. I didn’t want the image to become a science illustration; I wanted it to hold some tension between spectacle and control, between the purity of mathematics and the danger of raw power.

The coils themselves form a natural anchor in the bottom third of the frame, giving structure to what would otherwise be an abstract burst of energy. I shot through a safety mesh, letting it subtly ghost across the image, a reminder of the physical danger involved in what otherwise looks like stage magic. The reflections and colour bleed from the glass and museum lighting add a slight surrealism — not a defect, but a useful texture.

Technically, it’s not a clean shot. The depth of field is shallow, focus rides a fine line, and motion blur intrudes — but none of that diminishes its energy. The coils vibrate with menace and beauty in equal measure. I didn’t try to freeze the lightning perfectly. I wanted it wild.

The result is noisy, frantic, but honest. The kind of photograph you don’t polish too much because it already burns.