35. Elemental - February 9-15, 2014
Paul-
Since I couldn’t readily get my hands on any Einsteinium—have you seen what they’re charging these days?—I fell back on my second choice: Silver. (Symbol: Ag; atomic number: 47.)
This photograph represents my third try at getting an interesting shot…though you may be a better judge on whether I did or not. My first two experiments in my ex-darkroom produced boring and unsatisfying results. The coin is a 1886 Morgan Silver Dollar. All of them were struck in one of five locations…this one bears the mint mark “O” (for New Orleans). My grandfather gave it to my father; my father gave it to me.
Based on criteria given by something called the "Sheldon Scale," I’d guess this coin falls somewhere between F-12 (Fine) and EF-40 (Extremely Fine). Morgan Silver Dollars are made out of 90% silver and 10% copper. Despite the coin’s age, relative rarity (based on mintage/date), composition, and relatively good condition, it doesn’t command much of a price--I checked. Sigh.
Anyhoo…while rooting around my darkroom, I found my Digi-Slave Ultra II Light Ring. (I’ve used this before with good effect for some macro shots.) I thought it might be interesting to see what it would do as far as lighting and handling the reflective properties of the silver (scratches and all). I had a few adapter rings so it wasn’t a problem mating it to my 35mm lens. I found by positioning the camera at just the right height, I could “frame” the coin with the light cast by the LEDs. It also lent a kind of interesting effect to edge of the surface the coin rested on: a small, sterling silver (of course) scalloped dish. Finally, I draped a black cloth over the camera and immediate area to get rid of numerous reflections of other objects in the room.
And I’ve just been handed this: Olympus E500; 35mm macro (f3.5) lens at 35mm focal length; 1/4 sec. at f3.5; ISO 640; light ring used; camera is copy-stand mounted.
Since I couldn’t readily get my hands on any Einsteinium—have you seen what they’re charging these days?—I fell back on my second choice: Silver. (Symbol: Ag; atomic number: 47.)
This photograph represents my third try at getting an interesting shot…though you may be a better judge on whether I did or not. My first two experiments in my ex-darkroom produced boring and unsatisfying results. The coin is a 1886 Morgan Silver Dollar. All of them were struck in one of five locations…this one bears the mint mark “O” (for New Orleans). My grandfather gave it to my father; my father gave it to me.
Based on criteria given by something called the "Sheldon Scale," I’d guess this coin falls somewhere between F-12 (Fine) and EF-40 (Extremely Fine). Morgan Silver Dollars are made out of 90% silver and 10% copper. Despite the coin’s age, relative rarity (based on mintage/date), composition, and relatively good condition, it doesn’t command much of a price--I checked. Sigh.
Anyhoo…while rooting around my darkroom, I found my Digi-Slave Ultra II Light Ring. (I’ve used this before with good effect for some macro shots.) I thought it might be interesting to see what it would do as far as lighting and handling the reflective properties of the silver (scratches and all). I had a few adapter rings so it wasn’t a problem mating it to my 35mm lens. I found by positioning the camera at just the right height, I could “frame” the coin with the light cast by the LEDs. It also lent a kind of interesting effect to edge of the surface the coin rested on: a small, sterling silver (of course) scalloped dish. Finally, I draped a black cloth over the camera and immediate area to get rid of numerous reflections of other objects in the room.
And I’ve just been handed this: Olympus E500; 35mm macro (f3.5) lens at 35mm focal length; 1/4 sec. at f3.5; ISO 640; light ring used; camera is copy-stand mounted.
Kevin-
Okay, so Paul designated Elemental as the theme. Further he asked us to focus our efforts to specifically relate in some way to the Periodic Table of Elements. Now, doesn't EVERYTHING that we are aware of in the universe relate in some way to that list of elements? So we can photograph any darn thing we want, right? Well, I quickly learned that Paul insisted that the actual focus, in some way, needed to relate on one or more elements.
Of course I though about trying to photograph a heavy element like Uranium or Plutonium, then sending the photograph to him by mail, (along with the element of course so that he could compare). But he seemed opposed to that general concept as well. :)
He also seemed opposed to my photographing a Honda Element, and it seemed particularly strange to me that he also ruled out the Dodge Neon or Plymouth Mercury. So, I thought, what about Byron’s Chevy Cobalt SS? What about a photograph illuminated by Tungsten light? Or by the Xenon headlights on my BMW?
Then I started looking around for something made of Unobtanium, but of course could only find movies and books that referred to that supposed element.
Then I recalled that in 1994 an alternative band Live had a hit CD called Throwing Copper.
Five songs from that album were hits and the album sold over 8 million copies. Incidentally, I never saw the group Live perform Live. I thought that trying to explain that would have started to sound too much like an Abbott and Costello "Who’s on First?” routine
Wonderful, I’ll throw some copper! But, copper what? Let’s see, pennies used to be copper, right? Yes they were, up until 1982 (well, 95% Copper and 5% Zinc) when the transition to less expensive (mostly Zinc) materials started to occur. So how common are pre-1981 pennies I wondered? Fairly common I found, as I began to sort through the large container that I dump my pocket change into in every day. So I gathered about 100 pre-1982 pennies. Then I looked up how to clean Copper. “Put the copper objects in a pan with salt, vinegar and water, and bring it to a boil” Well, that worked pretty darn well. Certainly not like new, but much more shiny than these old (1944-1981) pennies used to be.
Next, it was off to the studio, to “throw” the pennies down against a black background and capture them with a strobe unit as they fell. I used one Nikon flash unit, which I could dial down to 1/128th power (8 stops below full) which was fast enough to freeze the motion. The room lights were off, the camera was set to the flash sync speed of 1/250th of a second, (but the speed of the actual flash was closer to 1/30,000 of a second), f/16, ISO 6400, with my 85mm Nikkor lens. Then I cropped the image square.
Okay, so Paul designated Elemental as the theme. Further he asked us to focus our efforts to specifically relate in some way to the Periodic Table of Elements. Now, doesn't EVERYTHING that we are aware of in the universe relate in some way to that list of elements? So we can photograph any darn thing we want, right? Well, I quickly learned that Paul insisted that the actual focus, in some way, needed to relate on one or more elements.
Of course I though about trying to photograph a heavy element like Uranium or Plutonium, then sending the photograph to him by mail, (along with the element of course so that he could compare). But he seemed opposed to that general concept as well. :)
He also seemed opposed to my photographing a Honda Element, and it seemed particularly strange to me that he also ruled out the Dodge Neon or Plymouth Mercury. So, I thought, what about Byron’s Chevy Cobalt SS? What about a photograph illuminated by Tungsten light? Or by the Xenon headlights on my BMW?
Then I started looking around for something made of Unobtanium, but of course could only find movies and books that referred to that supposed element.
Then I recalled that in 1994 an alternative band Live had a hit CD called Throwing Copper.
Five songs from that album were hits and the album sold over 8 million copies. Incidentally, I never saw the group Live perform Live. I thought that trying to explain that would have started to sound too much like an Abbott and Costello "Who’s on First?” routine
Wonderful, I’ll throw some copper! But, copper what? Let’s see, pennies used to be copper, right? Yes they were, up until 1982 (well, 95% Copper and 5% Zinc) when the transition to less expensive (mostly Zinc) materials started to occur. So how common are pre-1981 pennies I wondered? Fairly common I found, as I began to sort through the large container that I dump my pocket change into in every day. So I gathered about 100 pre-1982 pennies. Then I looked up how to clean Copper. “Put the copper objects in a pan with salt, vinegar and water, and bring it to a boil” Well, that worked pretty darn well. Certainly not like new, but much more shiny than these old (1944-1981) pennies used to be.
Next, it was off to the studio, to “throw” the pennies down against a black background and capture them with a strobe unit as they fell. I used one Nikon flash unit, which I could dial down to 1/128th power (8 stops below full) which was fast enough to freeze the motion. The room lights were off, the camera was set to the flash sync speed of 1/250th of a second, (but the speed of the actual flash was closer to 1/30,000 of a second), f/16, ISO 6400, with my 85mm Nikkor lens. Then I cropped the image square.
Byron-
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Like nickel, cobalt in the Earth's crust is found only in chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal.
Fun Facts about Cobalt-
Cobalt is the active center of coenzymes called cobalamins, the most common example of which is vitamin B12. As such it is an essential trace dietary mineral for all animals. Cobalt in inorganic form is also an active nutrient for bacteria, algae and fungi.
Cobalt has been used to color glass since the Bronze Age. The excavation of the Uluburun shipwreck yielded an ingot of blue glass, which was cast during the 14th century BC.[21][22] Blue glass items from Egypt are colored with copper, iron, or cobalt. The oldest cobalt-colored glass was from the time of the Eighteenth dynasty in Egypt (1550–1292 BC). The location where the cobalt compounds were obtained is unknown.
This photo shows my Cobalt. Since the atomic number is 27 I thought it appropriate to have 27 wind generators in the background.
The DX focal length was 40mm, 1/160 sec, f 6.3, ISO 100
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Like nickel, cobalt in the Earth's crust is found only in chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal.
Fun Facts about Cobalt-
Cobalt is the active center of coenzymes called cobalamins, the most common example of which is vitamin B12. As such it is an essential trace dietary mineral for all animals. Cobalt in inorganic form is also an active nutrient for bacteria, algae and fungi.
Cobalt has been used to color glass since the Bronze Age. The excavation of the Uluburun shipwreck yielded an ingot of blue glass, which was cast during the 14th century BC.[21][22] Blue glass items from Egypt are colored with copper, iron, or cobalt. The oldest cobalt-colored glass was from the time of the Eighteenth dynasty in Egypt (1550–1292 BC). The location where the cobalt compounds were obtained is unknown.
This photo shows my Cobalt. Since the atomic number is 27 I thought it appropriate to have 27 wind generators in the background.
The DX focal length was 40mm, 1/160 sec, f 6.3, ISO 100
Deron-
I chose atomic number 6; Carbon. Apparently, I could have taken a photo of a diamond, but all I have are those cubic zirconi... Ohhhhh, Zirconium. #40. Dang it!
Oh well, back to carbon, or to take it further, carbon fiber. This is a material consisting of fibers about 5-10 micrometres in diameter and is composed mostly of carbon atoms. When these fibers are woven, they create a sheet, which then can be combined with a resin to create a very strong and extremely lightweight moldable material... And that brings me to the photo of my carbon fiber bicycle. The entire frame and fork, cranks, handlebar and wheel rims are made of carbon fiber. Using nothing but pure magic, I have tried to convey just how light my beloved Cannondale SuperSix actually is... Hey SuperSix! Six, as in the atomic number.
I chose atomic number 6; Carbon. Apparently, I could have taken a photo of a diamond, but all I have are those cubic zirconi... Ohhhhh, Zirconium. #40. Dang it!
Oh well, back to carbon, or to take it further, carbon fiber. This is a material consisting of fibers about 5-10 micrometres in diameter and is composed mostly of carbon atoms. When these fibers are woven, they create a sheet, which then can be combined with a resin to create a very strong and extremely lightweight moldable material... And that brings me to the photo of my carbon fiber bicycle. The entire frame and fork, cranks, handlebar and wheel rims are made of carbon fiber. Using nothing but pure magic, I have tried to convey just how light my beloved Cannondale SuperSix actually is... Hey SuperSix! Six, as in the atomic number.