This is the part of the website dedicated to Lightsabers.  As a fencer, I have a great appreciation for the beauty of the Lightsaber.  George Lucas stumbled upon genius when he came up with the idea to begin with.  Knowing that the Star Wars universe had potential for great things, he wrote into the copyright agreements concerning his franchise that everything related to Star Wars was in the public domain just as long as you didn't make money off of it.  So, fans everywhere can enjoy making their own mark in Star Wars on the amateur level without worrying about KaZaa-esque lawsuits or other legal trouble.  That being said, I present my entry into Star Wars fandom.  These images were made on Adobe Photoshop, which I am becoming quite adept with.  I enjoy photo-editing, and find it rather relaxing when things are going to my liking.  As I do more Lightsaber pictures, they will pop up on this site.  Eventually, I plan to write a tutorial on how to do your own images!  Enjoy!

Click each image to see the full size.

My first Lightsaber picture.  This was originally a wooden katana in my hand.  This is the only one with me in it so far.  I hope to eventually have more, but that will require taking more photos of me.  Notice the glow of light emanating from the base of the blade.  Click here for the full photograph.  This is printable on a Kodak Photomaker.

  This is the second photo alteration.  I found some fencers online and redid the image with Sabers.  The Lightsaber blades covered up the real ones very well.  This was my first attempt at two different color blades.  This was accomplished using multiple layers.  If the two blades were on the same layer, they would have come out the same color.

My next two guinea pigs!  This time I decided to go for the look of movement, and the flashing impact of the blades crashing together.  There are three lens flares in this one; one at the base of each blade, and the other was a brighter one located where the Lightsabers collide.  *Insert crackling noise here*

        This film was a moment of high school genius...  A friend of mine named Michael Sowodniok, a German foreign exchange student, and I put together a film for a speech class that we were taking together.  The climactic ending of the film was a Lightsaber battle.  Because home technology was still young, Michael and I were unable to do the video editing that we wanted to for the class.  The Lightsabers were wooden poles spray painted the appropriate colors.  Our duel was exciting nonetheless, and was the biggest reason that our group received the only A in the class.  Michael and I hoped that one day we would be able to do a real Lightsaber scene, like the ones in the movies.  Now, that dream comes true.  I have captured fourteen stills from our original film, from May 1999, and ran them through Adobe Photoshop 6.  What I present to you today is a dream given form, and a wish made reality.  Thank you, Michael, for being such a wonderful friend.  This one is for you!

        The scene is this... James Doyle, P.I. (yours truly), has been hired to track down the evil German mad scientist Dr. Saur Krautt (Michael), who single handedly engineered the Y2K crisis as part of an elaborate plan for world domination.  (As outlined in his book, 15 Easy Steps to World Domination.)  Krautt kidnapped Dr. Bird Feeter, the computer genius who figured out how to fix the Y2K bug.  Now in the hands of Krautt's thugs, she was unable to distribute the Y2K patch to the entire world.  Doyle and his trusty sidekick, Comedy Relief, track down Krautt and his assistant Igor at their underground hideout/laboratory, where he challenges him to a duel!

        Comedy Relief, not fond of this "senseless, wanton violence," has a stunt double fight in her stead, who after a spectacular martial arts bout with the Judo-trained Krautt, is killed (or at least severely maimed enough to not have her contract renewed for any future sequels).  Doyle makes quick work of the hapless Igor, then sets his sights on Krautt.  He tries to fire a Phaser at him, but it doesn't work (Japanese made).  Krautt, in evil mad scientist fashion, challenges Doyle to a contest of the Force.  He throws a Lightsaber to the ground , which immediately leaps into Doyle's hand (yes, we did this with a fishing pole and really thin line off camera... if I can get my timing right, I'll put a screen capture of that one, or at least a small video online soon!).  After an instant of hesitation during which it looks like neither sword will work (Japanese made also, after all) the blade come to life and a fight to the death ensues!

   The fight begins.  Doyle and Krautt walk back and forth for a few moments, posturing, daring the other to strike first.  The tension mounts... then we lunge into action!

   After the first couple strikes, Krautt blocks a downward strike over his left shoulder.  Straining against the force of Doyle's blue Lightsaber, Krautt pushes him back several steps and regains his balance.

   Doyle readies himself for Krautt's attack, as the German mad-scientist swings his red Lightsaber furiously toward our hero.

   Krautt counters with a downward strike of his own, his red blade ripping through the air.  Doyle prepares to counter with a sidestrike.

   The blades lock, burning light emanating from between them.  Krautt starts pushing Doyle back, hoping to throw him off balance.

   Doyle escapes from the lock by spinning a full 360 degrees, sending a powerful spinning attack straight into Krautt's Lightsaber.

  Strong, the Force is in Doyle.  Sensing Krautt plans to take his legs out from under him, our hero jumps like a jackrabbit over the blade.  (This is no optical illusion, folks... I was in my light heavyweight/cruiserweight days then.  I cleared that that blade by a foot).

  The air brightens as the blades scream together for one final contest of brute strength and mind over matter.  The two warriors are exhausted by this contest of the Force, sweat rolling from the brows, brought on by the superheated plasma of the Jedi weapons.

  Krautt, knowing that his defeat is imminent, tries a desperate maneuver.  He throws a side kick, nearly knocking Doyle to the ground.  (This one hurt... Michael kicked the ever-living daylights out of me.  I get him back though.)

  Doyle returns with a kick of his own, sending Krautt into the air, ending the match.  (Michael accidentally stepped into this kick, which was hard enough to be audible on camera.  Michael's side was black for days.  Cracked ribs, anyone?  Sorry, buddy.)

   Krautt's Lightsaber failed him.  He admits that he should have used Energizer, instead of Duracell.  Doyle, before Krautt can rearm himself, unceremoniously severs his opponent's hand.  (Look carefully, you can see his hand is airborne.  We did this with a fake stuck in Michael's sleeve.  He was so glad that I didn't hit his real hand!)

   Mmm.... severed hand... still warm, too.  (This was the money shot.  It received some good reactions from the class, who weren't sure if that was really a "hand" that was cut from Michael's arm.)

  Just when Doyle thinks he has won, Krautt rolls to the side.  Doyle takes a swing and misses.  (I was suppose to swing and hit him, but Michael rolled out of the way.  If it wasn't for the wind, I'm sure you could have heard the stage crew laughing on camera.  At one point, Mom yelled "Don't kill him!")

  The finishing blow, struck before Krautt could get to his replacement batteries.  A half second later, his body vanishes as he is taken up by the Force.  If he disappeared... how evil was he really?  So ends the diabolical plan of Dr. Krautt... or does it?

        It would help if Doyle and Comedy Relief remembered to rescue Feeter!  Oh, well.  At least she is being well entertained with a few hands of the German card game Schwimmen by Doyle's bumbling henchmen, who do not realize that they are now unemployed.

  To this day, Krautt's Lightsaber remains on display in the bedroom of James Doyle, P.I.  May it burn ever bright as a reminder... that Energizer lasts longer than Duracell.