Macro Photography – Dusty Relays

Our monthly Photo Club meeting was cancelled after concern that one of our members worked with someone exhibiting flu-like symptoms. In the absence of available Coronavirus testing,  this was the prudent course of action.

The monthly photo theme was Macro Photography and I decided to work with my collection of relays that I’ve had since the early 1960s. Over the years they have gathered a patina of corrosion and dust.

A relay is an electrically controlled switch.  My dad used to find them in the scrap pile at work and he brought them home for me. I love the design. An electromagnet attracts a plate that is linked to switching contacts. You see a nice spark when contact is made.

I hooked one up to a timer so we could push a button in the garage to leave the lights on till we got inside.

I also used a relay to control two strings of Christmas light. One was green for go and one was red for stop.

My dad and I used to target shoot out the door of the garage, We did this to keep the noise from the neighbors and not alarm them.  The field of view was restricted so I wired up a cord with a push button. One of us would stand outside as a spotter. When the button was pressed the relay would activate the green lights. This meant it was safe to shoot. If I let go of the switch (or was shot) the relay would deactivated and turn on the red lights. Better safe than sorry.

Focus Stacking

I shot these photos with an Olympus mirrorless camera. It has the capability of taking a series of photos with different focus settings. The camera can stack this series into a single hyper-sharp photo. This process is called focus stacking.  The sharpness accentuates the dust and texture of the mechanical parts of the relay.

This pair of relays (above) have an interesting design, The coil on the left has the single function of controlling a locking latch, the actual switching relay is on the right. When the right coil is energized the plate is held down and locked by the latch. Note that the front relay is locked and the rear relay is unlocked. Energizing the latch coil allows the switch to open.

I have no idea about the application of these devices but they are engineering gems.

High power relay terminal strip

Coil for a high voltage relay

I photographed this series of devices using an overhead series of spotlights. The lighting accentuated the 50+ years of dust.

Many modern day relays are solid state. They are boring boxes with wires. I prefer the complexity of coils, wires, springs and connectors. These are fun to watch in operation. They click and spark in a dramatic fashion.

Next time I work with Macro work I think I’ll choose something organic, but definitely not the corona virus.