122. Squished - October 11-17, 2015
Kevin-
Many things can be squished, either adoringly (like gently snuggling an adorable puppy), or with great and irreparable violence, (like backing over a frog with your car).
And some things can not be squished. Broken? Yes. Smashed? Yes. Shattered? Yes. But not squished. Eggs seem to be un-squishable objects, which made one an ideal subject for this week’s theme as I tried to squish some.
But if something can’t be squished in a vise, it really can’t be squished. So instead I tighten the vise just enough to crack the egg all the way around. Perhaps this would be a perfect way to break an egg. But people rarely keep a bench vise in the kitchen for cooking so perhaps not.
I am really happy with the lighting. Two studio strobes were used. One had an orange gel on it and was aimed at the white background behind the un-squishable egg. The other was inside a large softbox which was positioned slightly behind the egg. A couple of small white bounce cards completed the scheme.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, 105mm f.2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. f/16 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
Many things can be squished, either adoringly (like gently snuggling an adorable puppy), or with great and irreparable violence, (like backing over a frog with your car).
And some things can not be squished. Broken? Yes. Smashed? Yes. Shattered? Yes. But not squished. Eggs seem to be un-squishable objects, which made one an ideal subject for this week’s theme as I tried to squish some.
But if something can’t be squished in a vise, it really can’t be squished. So instead I tighten the vise just enough to crack the egg all the way around. Perhaps this would be a perfect way to break an egg. But people rarely keep a bench vise in the kitchen for cooking so perhaps not.
I am really happy with the lighting. Two studio strobes were used. One had an orange gel on it and was aimed at the white background behind the un-squishable egg. The other was inside a large softbox which was positioned slightly behind the egg. A couple of small white bounce cards completed the scheme.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, 105mm f.2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. f/16 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
Paul-
For this week, I had to take took shelter in the science of linguistics and apply connotation and ostensive definition to the theme. That is to say, I tried to find a way to bend the conceptual framework of the how we usually apply “squished” (because I needed to) and found a loophole in the two concepts that are italicized above.
Wow, that paragraph is screaming for clarity. Let’s try it again.
My general interpretation—and why I’m even getting into this level of explanation is beyond me—of the term “squished” includes, within the action the word implies, the involvement of an object or organism which possess some degree of moisture, malleability, or compressibility (or any combination thereof). With me so far? Me neither.
So I had initially thought about how I could use different things like a pumpkin (which I did purchase with near-noxious results), fresh Play-Doh, a wet sponge, a warm bar of chocolate, my grand-niece’s cheeks, etc. A combination of things this week conspired against the time I had hacked out my schedule to take the picture, so here I am on Friday night writing this without even having anything in my camera yet. In everyone else’s world there still remains a lot of time before what we loosely call a submission deadline occurs. But I have always liked getting my drakes in a row early on in any project or assignment. So I’m chewing on my nails as I type this.
Eventually, here’s what I did—having not yet done it.
I went (will) go to my bookshelves and pulled (will pull) down some volumes. In some these are autumn leaves I placed between the pages decades ago. I did it on those rare occasions when I’d felt I’d had a particularly wonderful day…some kind of transcendent day…and wanted some kind of keepsake as a remembrance. Honest. (Think this is odd? Go ask a woman of advanced years why she has kept a pressed rose amongst a packet of old and yellowing letters. Nothing we hold dear, in memory or in desiccated fragments, can truly be considered ephemera.)
Many, many years after having squished (he said, trying to get away an odd choice of words) these and a few other leaves between the pages of some of my books, I really took myself to task for doing so. (I was a librarian by then.) As you may know, the bark of many trees and even some plants contain tannin—a substance used as a tanning agent. I’m not sure if leaves contain tannin, but these books were given to me as gifts from three very different people for three very different reasons. Had the leaves left stains on the pages I would have been pretty upset.
Our story so far: 1/6 sec.; f/13; aperture priority; ISO 2000; pattern metering; +1/3 EV bracketing; 18-55mm lens set at 39mm; white-balanced at automatic; camera attached to Testrite copy stand.
Post-shoot Addendum – The books and “leafed” pages, starting in the lower right-hand moving clockwise:
1) The Reader’s Encyclopedia (2nd Ed.) William Rose Benét [pages 426 & 427].
2) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (illus.) [pages 340 & 341].
3) The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (Rev., 3rd Ed.) [pages 891 & 892].
For this week, I had to take took shelter in the science of linguistics and apply connotation and ostensive definition to the theme. That is to say, I tried to find a way to bend the conceptual framework of the how we usually apply “squished” (because I needed to) and found a loophole in the two concepts that are italicized above.
Wow, that paragraph is screaming for clarity. Let’s try it again.
My general interpretation—and why I’m even getting into this level of explanation is beyond me—of the term “squished” includes, within the action the word implies, the involvement of an object or organism which possess some degree of moisture, malleability, or compressibility (or any combination thereof). With me so far? Me neither.
So I had initially thought about how I could use different things like a pumpkin (which I did purchase with near-noxious results), fresh Play-Doh, a wet sponge, a warm bar of chocolate, my grand-niece’s cheeks, etc. A combination of things this week conspired against the time I had hacked out my schedule to take the picture, so here I am on Friday night writing this without even having anything in my camera yet. In everyone else’s world there still remains a lot of time before what we loosely call a submission deadline occurs. But I have always liked getting my drakes in a row early on in any project or assignment. So I’m chewing on my nails as I type this.
Eventually, here’s what I did—having not yet done it.
I went (will) go to my bookshelves and pulled (will pull) down some volumes. In some these are autumn leaves I placed between the pages decades ago. I did it on those rare occasions when I’d felt I’d had a particularly wonderful day…some kind of transcendent day…and wanted some kind of keepsake as a remembrance. Honest. (Think this is odd? Go ask a woman of advanced years why she has kept a pressed rose amongst a packet of old and yellowing letters. Nothing we hold dear, in memory or in desiccated fragments, can truly be considered ephemera.)
Many, many years after having squished (he said, trying to get away an odd choice of words) these and a few other leaves between the pages of some of my books, I really took myself to task for doing so. (I was a librarian by then.) As you may know, the bark of many trees and even some plants contain tannin—a substance used as a tanning agent. I’m not sure if leaves contain tannin, but these books were given to me as gifts from three very different people for three very different reasons. Had the leaves left stains on the pages I would have been pretty upset.
Our story so far: 1/6 sec.; f/13; aperture priority; ISO 2000; pattern metering; +1/3 EV bracketing; 18-55mm lens set at 39mm; white-balanced at automatic; camera attached to Testrite copy stand.
Post-shoot Addendum – The books and “leafed” pages, starting in the lower right-hand moving clockwise:
1) The Reader’s Encyclopedia (2nd Ed.) William Rose Benét [pages 426 & 427].
2) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (illus.) [pages 340 & 341].
3) The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (Rev., 3rd Ed.) [pages 891 & 892].
Jerry-
My first photo was of the coke can, though maybe "crushed" would be more appropriate. Then I thought of Byron's up shot photo with his face squished by the boxing glove. Hmmm. First tried the daughter with her boyfriend playfully squishing her face. Cute. Then I had my wife squish her face against the glass of our entry door. I actually liked that one a lot! But I don't think my wife is very happy about the result. So, a selfie will have to suffice.
D5200, 40mm Nikkor Micro, 1/8 @ f11, on a tripod, with live view and lcd screen facing me so I can compose to my heart's delight.
My first photo was of the coke can, though maybe "crushed" would be more appropriate. Then I thought of Byron's up shot photo with his face squished by the boxing glove. Hmmm. First tried the daughter with her boyfriend playfully squishing her face. Cute. Then I had my wife squish her face against the glass of our entry door. I actually liked that one a lot! But I don't think my wife is very happy about the result. So, a selfie will have to suffice.
D5200, 40mm Nikkor Micro, 1/8 @ f11, on a tripod, with live view and lcd screen facing me so I can compose to my heart's delight.
Don-
Ahhh, Its been a rough couple of weeks. I am coming out of a bit of a fog. I could not adjust to prescription. Oh well, I woke up this morning, better than some. I did not get killed by some demented old woman attempting to get into a parking spot. Had I known about Doug before I made this picture I would not have done the pic........
f/11, 1/6- sec, 200-ISO, no flash and at 56mm.
Ahhh, Its been a rough couple of weeks. I am coming out of a bit of a fog. I could not adjust to prescription. Oh well, I woke up this morning, better than some. I did not get killed by some demented old woman attempting to get into a parking spot. Had I known about Doug before I made this picture I would not have done the pic........
f/11, 1/6- sec, 200-ISO, no flash and at 56mm.
Byron-
Few things feel better than Play-Doh squishing between your fingers.
I lit this with one flash above the hand, a Byro-Snoot controlling the light, a white tabletop just below the hand. I adjusted the flash to -.7. ISO 200, 50mm, f8, 1/30 sec.
Few things feel better than Play-Doh squishing between your fingers.
I lit this with one flash above the hand, a Byro-Snoot controlling the light, a white tabletop just below the hand. I adjusted the flash to -.7. ISO 200, 50mm, f8, 1/30 sec.
Deron-
This is little Nicholas and his Grandma Carol.
This is little Nicholas and his Grandma Carol.