140. Dust - February 14-20, 2016
Kevin-
Who designated this theme? Oh, that’s right, I did.
When contemplating what to do with dust I first spent time thinking about trying to capture a dust devil If you have never seen one they look like mini tornados. It is often that you can see dust devils during the drive between Palm Springs and Phoenix. But Ed LaCroix convinced me that while easy to spot, it would take getting really lucky to capture a good photograph of one. And there was no way that I could take the car for a couple of days to make the drive. On to the next idea...
There was Dust dance, taking a model, covering him or her in something resembling dust-like flour and shooting flash images as the model danced and twirled. I loved that idea. But I worried about finding a willing subject in the short WPOTM time frame, I worried about shooting the image in a very, very warm garage/studio considering the heat wave we have been going through here in Palm Springs, and ultimately decided it would be too similar to the image I captured for WPOTM Week 116, when the theme was Paint.
So I finally decided that lint would be my preferred form of dust, and I would put some of the practices I learned in the Joe McNally class to use. I hauled flash units, light stands a tripod and camera into the very small laundry room here. One flash was inside of the dryer, with a double tungsten gel on it. One flash was bounced off the ceiling of the room, with a single tungsten gel. And one more flash with no color on it was aimed at the wall, simulating a bit of light coming through a window (which doesn’t really exist). All the flash units were set to TTL mode and the camera was set to tungsten color balance. All of that was mixed with the lights that are normally in the laundry room.
There was barely room to move for me, or for Michelle, who ably played the role of someone wiping the dust/lint off of the dryer filter.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, 24-120mm f/4 Nikkor lens, ISO 100, f/13 at 1.6 seconds.
Is this a photograph that would be hung on a wall? Not even close. But still it was an interesting exercise.
Who designated this theme? Oh, that’s right, I did.
When contemplating what to do with dust I first spent time thinking about trying to capture a dust devil If you have never seen one they look like mini tornados. It is often that you can see dust devils during the drive between Palm Springs and Phoenix. But Ed LaCroix convinced me that while easy to spot, it would take getting really lucky to capture a good photograph of one. And there was no way that I could take the car for a couple of days to make the drive. On to the next idea...
There was Dust dance, taking a model, covering him or her in something resembling dust-like flour and shooting flash images as the model danced and twirled. I loved that idea. But I worried about finding a willing subject in the short WPOTM time frame, I worried about shooting the image in a very, very warm garage/studio considering the heat wave we have been going through here in Palm Springs, and ultimately decided it would be too similar to the image I captured for WPOTM Week 116, when the theme was Paint.
So I finally decided that lint would be my preferred form of dust, and I would put some of the practices I learned in the Joe McNally class to use. I hauled flash units, light stands a tripod and camera into the very small laundry room here. One flash was inside of the dryer, with a double tungsten gel on it. One flash was bounced off the ceiling of the room, with a single tungsten gel. And one more flash with no color on it was aimed at the wall, simulating a bit of light coming through a window (which doesn’t really exist). All the flash units were set to TTL mode and the camera was set to tungsten color balance. All of that was mixed with the lights that are normally in the laundry room.
There was barely room to move for me, or for Michelle, who ably played the role of someone wiping the dust/lint off of the dryer filter.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, 24-120mm f/4 Nikkor lens, ISO 100, f/13 at 1.6 seconds.
Is this a photograph that would be hung on a wall? Not even close. But still it was an interesting exercise.
Paul-
Dust. Bunny.
Our story so far: 18-55mm with the lens set at 30mm; aperture priority; center-weighted average metering; ISO 640; 1/80 sec.; -1 EV; f/10. Tripod used. Two lights on the outside of the light tent. On attached to the upper-left corner of the tent pointing down and one back (and to the right) about 1.5’.
Dust. Bunny.
Our story so far: 18-55mm with the lens set at 30mm; aperture priority; center-weighted average metering; ISO 640; 1/80 sec.; -1 EV; f/10. Tripod used. Two lights on the outside of the light tent. On attached to the upper-left corner of the tent pointing down and one back (and to the right) about 1.5’.
Jerry-
My search for dust began by looking in the basement window ledges where I did find some bugs trapped in spider webs but not really dusty. After ruminating a few hours, I thought of emptying the shop vac, surely lots of dust there - plus a bit of hair! And low and behold, with the dust and hair and crud was a penny.
I used the D750 with 105 Micro, camera settings of 1/200 @ F45, ISO 100, SB700 Flash with ByroSnute off to the side.
My search for dust began by looking in the basement window ledges where I did find some bugs trapped in spider webs but not really dusty. After ruminating a few hours, I thought of emptying the shop vac, surely lots of dust there - plus a bit of hair! And low and behold, with the dust and hair and crud was a penny.
I used the D750 with 105 Micro, camera settings of 1/200 @ F45, ISO 100, SB700 Flash with ByroSnute off to the side.
Don-
Dust is everywhere but I was unsure how to show it.
I first went into a canyon and poured sand and dust
in front of the camera.
This was just not disgustingly dusty enough, to much sand.
So I went to something I know. The Dyson vacuum machine. A real dust
eater. A picture as we emptied the dirt chamber.
1/200 sec, F-6.3, ISO 100 and lens set to 29mm.
Dust is everywhere but I was unsure how to show it.
I first went into a canyon and poured sand and dust
in front of the camera.
This was just not disgustingly dusty enough, to much sand.
So I went to something I know. The Dyson vacuum machine. A real dust
eater. A picture as we emptied the dirt chamber.
1/200 sec, F-6.3, ISO 100 and lens set to 29mm.
Byron-
Oh you've seen it many times. Whether it was Michael Jordan or Magnus Ver Magnusson. They reach into the box of finely ground chalk, rosin or talc. They coat their hands with it and then clap which creates a white cloud. I wanted to freeze the moment so I shot it in the dark. I used a 2 second exposure. During the exposure, I used my trigger trap to fire the flash when I clapped my hands.
2 sec, f/8, ISO 400,
Oh you've seen it many times. Whether it was Michael Jordan or Magnus Ver Magnusson. They reach into the box of finely ground chalk, rosin or talc. They coat their hands with it and then clap which creates a white cloud. I wanted to freeze the moment so I shot it in the dark. I used a 2 second exposure. During the exposure, I used my trigger trap to fire the flash when I clapped my hands.
2 sec, f/8, ISO 400,
Deron-
My submission is a dusting of powdered sugar on a donut.
My submission is a dusting of powdered sugar on a donut.