ice

Header Challenge: ice

February 27, 2013

Lew picked "ice" for today's challenge. We were told that it can be any shape or color, so I'm eager to see the other creations. Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.

This winter has been unseasonably warm, but we still have some icicles to show. It's neat how a night shot of these are not colorless, but they reflect some amber from a streetlight, and some blue from my house.

How about a nice black & white that looks like the ice was formed from carbonated water? Look at all those tiny bubbles!

One Monday morning, I was stopped in my tracks by how the light reflected off the ice. The twinkling was added by in-camera effects.

The selection for this week's header was an experiment on a cold and dreary night. I wanted so badly to take a picture of SOMETHING. I'm sure you can identify with that, right? I put an ice cube on a black surface, with a black background, and shone a laser pointer into it.  I was hoping to make a cold thing look hot.  What do you think?  Did it work?

red and green

Header Challenge: Red and Green

December 26, 2012

Tom selected red and green for this header challenge.   Check out my pals for their interpretations on the theme: Fishing Guy, Katney, Imac, Sandy and Lew.

This week's header shows a stretched version of a concept I was toying with last year.  The post was called Christmas lights, and in it, I explained how I drew that for the camera with a laser on a dark wall.

I love the way the light and focus draws us in to these berries.

From a neighbor's apple tree.  They thought I was strange.

From my own yard.  You know what? I think I'm strange, too.

From a craft display at Christkindl Market Downtown Chicago at Daley Plaza.

Christmas lights

Three years ago, I took some pictures using a Christmas tree with lights to produce some special effects. This year, I tinkered with some special effects to produce a Christmas tree with lights. Here is how I did it:

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Using a tripod at night, I manually focused on a blank wall.

The camera was set to exposure priority, and the two shots varied between 5 and 13 seconds. Then, I turned out the lights.

My hand formed an upside-down "V," to mask the shape, as I drew a zig-zag on the wall with a cheap, pen laser. (Remove any reflective jewelry so you don't blind yourself!)

In post-editing, I changed the red lines to green.

The ornaments were done by guessing where the tree was, and just dotting inside the triangle with the same laser.

Then, I put the two images together as an overlapping collage.

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I tried combining more exposures to get a variety of ornament colors, but I liked the simplest one best. I wonder what else we can try with light.

red-hot ice cube

It was so hot this week, that when I grilled at lunchtime, I didn't even need to light the charcoal. (sizzle)

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This image of a "red-hot" ice cube was remarkably low-tech, and no color editing was necessary. One evening, I placed an ice cube on a black surface, and used a cheap, red laser to illuminate it. In case you're wondering, the camera was my wife's compact point & shoot.

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Stay cool, Friends.