186. Splash of Color - January 1-7, 2017
Byron-
The desert is an interesting place. Because it is so harsh most of the year, plants need to conserve energy. That means most of the year they look dead or like a collection of sticks. They do come back to life once per year for a brief time. When they do it is often spectacular. I guess it's a reward for us having to look at them the rest of the year. The color of the desert is tan. Everything seems to be that color. So when a plant decides to show off, it needs to be photographed!
The meta data for this photo remains hidden. I used the Nouveau style of shooting and sharing this photo. That means shooting with a phone and distributing it with an iPad. I tried to find the info for this photo but there is no info button. When I looked online there where many sites that showed how to view the data. Unfortunately, step 1 was download their software. I don't want their software.
The desert is an interesting place. Because it is so harsh most of the year, plants need to conserve energy. That means most of the year they look dead or like a collection of sticks. They do come back to life once per year for a brief time. When they do it is often spectacular. I guess it's a reward for us having to look at them the rest of the year. The color of the desert is tan. Everything seems to be that color. So when a plant decides to show off, it needs to be photographed!
The meta data for this photo remains hidden. I used the Nouveau style of shooting and sharing this photo. That means shooting with a phone and distributing it with an iPad. I tried to find the info for this photo but there is no info button. When I looked online there where many sites that showed how to view the data. Unfortunately, step 1 was download their software. I don't want their software.
Kevin-
I could have kissed Byron! Okay in reality there is no way I would ever do that. But when he announced Splash of Color as this week’s theme he created the perfect opportunity to pick up on the photo approach that I took for WPOTM - Week 51 when the theme was Droplet, and hopefully do it better.
Simple concept. A drop, or drops of liquid fall into a pan of liquid. The action is captured with portable hot-shoe type strobes set to really low power so the flash durations are really short and the action is frozen. In the previous photo I used a bit of food coloring in the pan and in the drop. This time I used clear liquid (water) and added colored gels to the flash units. Blue at camera left, green at camera right, and red behind/above. The baking pan of water was clear glass, on a diffuse white acrylic sheet. But the scene looks black because all of the light is coming from above and from the sides. The result was a nice Splash of Color!
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto Carbon One tripod with an Aractech ballhead, 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor Lens, ISO 400, 1/250th of a second (flash sync) at f/32. But the scene was really controlled by the three flash units which were each set to their minimum of 1/128th power.
I could have kissed Byron! Okay in reality there is no way I would ever do that. But when he announced Splash of Color as this week’s theme he created the perfect opportunity to pick up on the photo approach that I took for WPOTM - Week 51 when the theme was Droplet, and hopefully do it better.
Simple concept. A drop, or drops of liquid fall into a pan of liquid. The action is captured with portable hot-shoe type strobes set to really low power so the flash durations are really short and the action is frozen. In the previous photo I used a bit of food coloring in the pan and in the drop. This time I used clear liquid (water) and added colored gels to the flash units. Blue at camera left, green at camera right, and red behind/above. The baking pan of water was clear glass, on a diffuse white acrylic sheet. But the scene looks black because all of the light is coming from above and from the sides. The result was a nice Splash of Color!
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto Carbon One tripod with an Aractech ballhead, 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor Lens, ISO 400, 1/250th of a second (flash sync) at f/32. But the scene was really controlled by the three flash units which were each set to their minimum of 1/128th power.
Paul-
This is another fun topic in that it allows for so many interpretations and creative directions.
I went for a long walk on New Year’s day—I always do—but without the intention of shooting anything. It was intended as a quiet, contemplative, freeze-your-fingers kind of thing. I had my cell phone with me, which is usually not the case (by preference).
Initiated into the world of photography in general, and the WPOTM in specific, when I was just a wee babe…well, it’s been hard to meander about without catching myself appraising what might make for an interesting photograph. I tried to tamp this down and focus on the walk, but the spirit of snapping some pictures was strong and the flesh light was not yet weak.
So, with antique Motorla Moto X in chilled hands, I went at it. The last interesting subject I saw was the one I am submitting. The selective cropping removed all the background distractions and helped me establish the ratio of screen real estate I wanted to give the two pictorial elements.
Making a splash: Moto XT1066 running Android (v5.1); f/2.4; focal length 4.499mm. The photo application was Vignette PhotoEffects by Weavr Studios (see below); the camera application was set for 5.0MP at a 4:3 ratio with 100% JPEG quality. I used Lightroom to work with a graduated filter, as well as to tweak the clarity, contrast and the yellows. I used PhotoScape to give the impression the picture was shot with Provia film.
This is another fun topic in that it allows for so many interpretations and creative directions.
I went for a long walk on New Year’s day—I always do—but without the intention of shooting anything. It was intended as a quiet, contemplative, freeze-your-fingers kind of thing. I had my cell phone with me, which is usually not the case (by preference).
Initiated into the world of photography in general, and the WPOTM in specific, when I was just a wee babe…well, it’s been hard to meander about without catching myself appraising what might make for an interesting photograph. I tried to tamp this down and focus on the walk, but the spirit of snapping some pictures was strong and the flesh light was not yet weak.
So, with antique Motorla Moto X in chilled hands, I went at it. The last interesting subject I saw was the one I am submitting. The selective cropping removed all the background distractions and helped me establish the ratio of screen real estate I wanted to give the two pictorial elements.
Making a splash: Moto XT1066 running Android (v5.1); f/2.4; focal length 4.499mm. The photo application was Vignette PhotoEffects by Weavr Studios (see below); the camera application was set for 5.0MP at a 4:3 ratio with 100% JPEG quality. I used Lightroom to work with a graduated filter, as well as to tweak the clarity, contrast and the yellows. I used PhotoScape to give the impression the picture was shot with Provia film.
Jerry-
I began a frantic search for my splash of color photo with a photo of one of my daughter's left behind geegaws, a kind of illuminated howling wolves captured in a crystal like clearish substance. It's ok and is attached. Then I tried a photo of some old transmission gears in water with a bit of motor oil sheen but it was not worthy of a shutter click. So then I tried a mix of sugar sprinkles in various colors spread upon the crystalline snow next to the house. This works I think!
Camera was the Sony A6300 with 55mm Micro Nikkor, 1/60 @ F22, ISO 200.
I began a frantic search for my splash of color photo with a photo of one of my daughter's left behind geegaws, a kind of illuminated howling wolves captured in a crystal like clearish substance. It's ok and is attached. Then I tried a photo of some old transmission gears in water with a bit of motor oil sheen but it was not worthy of a shutter click. So then I tried a mix of sugar sprinkles in various colors spread upon the crystalline snow next to the house. This works I think!
Camera was the Sony A6300 with 55mm Micro Nikkor, 1/60 @ F22, ISO 200.