I brought a plastic jug full of ice indoors from the garden. (As you do.) It was full of tiny frozen bubbles, in many shapes and sizes. I took various angles, with different lighting (lamp and flash,) and chose this shot because I thought it had simply the most interesting bubbles. The droplets contrast nicely with the streaks, suggesting a sense of movement.
Settings: f/8 (approx,) 1/8, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 25mm extension, fluorescent lamp, black velvet, foil reflector, cable release, tripod. Colour and levels adjustment, square crop.
Another cup & liquid photo, but this time the cup is made of ice and filled with a red food colouring solution. I tried to get a similar effect to what I shot before (the tea glass,) but I wanted the thick ice walls here to show up quite white. The problem was that the flash light (directed up from underneath as before) was filtered completely red by the liquid, and painted the whole cup red. I tried a different shot here, using the flash directly on the side of the ice from the right. The result is better this way, but next time I would want to use two flashes - one from beneath, and another from the side.
Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, DA 18-55 (45mm), 1/4 flash, black foam & cloth backdrop, tripod. Some slight colour adjustments and retouching.
f/5.6, 1/40 sec. ISO 100, 50mm M42, 51mm extension. This ice had formed on a dowel which protrudes slightly above the surface of a garden table. It was icier before I went indoors to get my camera and set up the lens, and I caught this not long before it disappeared in the morning sunlight. I could see it melting as I composed the shot, so I had to work quickly. I have made myself a small bean bag for the very purpose of resting a camera on for difficult hand-supported shots, but this time I didn't have it with me so my wooly hat had to suffice. It was only just chunky enough when folded a couple of times and the camera needed more than a little hand support so I turned on shake reduction. I presume it did some good at 1/40 sec. as the image is just about acceptably sharp. I could have done with a tripod and a bit less direct sunlight. Turning up to ISO 200 wouldn't have hurt, either.
Today has been a day of long icicles. As soon as the snow starts to become slushy and tiresome in places, brittle little stalactites begin to grow under the eaves of roofs and the base edges of cars. When I come across nearby icicles, I snap them away with glee and contemplate their curious forms - like a twiglets made of glass. I would even entertain the practice of using them as lollipops, if I hadn't first considered what the meltwater ran over before forming them; It would be tantamount to licking a shed roof or car bonnet. We all know what birds like to do to cars and roofs.
If glass is too risky or irresponsible to smash with gratuity, then ice makes an excellent substitute. It even disposes of itself! Just keep it outside and away from people's faces...
Frost fascinates me endlessly. It's a winter sprinkling of icing on the cake of the Earth. Not always welcome to some, but to me an opportunity to notice how so many forms (natural and atrificial) we normally pass by are transformed into objects of curiosity and awe. Ther earlier you go out to see it the better, but the approaching sun is also welcome for the light it contributes on the otherwise shadowy winter scenes. In exchange for being freezing cold, we get in return a beautiful layer of ice encrusting every exposed surface. A lawn, once springy and green, is now a blueish crunchy mass that remembers our footfalls. A leaf becomes a microscopic crystal garden. A spider's web turns rigid as though it were glass. This laurel leaf takes on a texture utterly unlike its normal smooth, waxy surface. Gradually the sun will wipe across, highlighting the ice and enhancing its brilliance, its heat slowly erasing the frozen display like an invisible etch-a-sketch.
I thought it would be a good idea to link to this video, as it seems appropriate to what I just mentioned about ice melting. Though this is faster and rather disco-like. I like the visuals and music very much. Have a watch with a good pair of headphones.
According to the weather forecasts, a generous helping of snow is expected tonight and tomorrow. I must remember to dial in at least +1EV so my results don't turn out grey.
Behold, an ice man! Found standing on a frozen pot tray in the garden, how it formed is a mystery to me. I fancy it shares an silhouette with Batman, if only it was opaque. It rained after I took this photo, so I expect it's metled now.
Ice photos are a good example of how still photography doesn't just capture a frame in time, but how it can preserve a seemingly evanescant form, albeit mummified in ones and zeros, coloured dyes or silver.
Did you know that black radishes taste just like Brussels sprouts when cooked? They're both winter brassicas... I was very surprised by this, which I didn't notice until today. Have the frosts strengthened their flavour? Maybe it's because they're older roots, or maybe it's just because I cooked them differently. It was a curry today, before I just put them in stir-fries. They could be an alternative to the sprout for Christmas dinner, if you can tear yourself away from tradition.
I brought a plastic jug full of ice indoors from the garden. (As you do.) It was full of tiny frozen bubbles, in many shapes and sizes. I took various angles, with different lighting (lamp and flash,) and chose this shot because I thought it had simply the most interesting bubbles. The droplets contrast nicely with the streaks, suggesting a sense of movement.
