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Jan, 2016Views
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robmahony
February 02, 2016
This is an amazing exposure Paleblue!! Such an inspiration. Thank you :)
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken on my back deck, using my grill as a stand. I have a collection of interesting surfaces, such as metallic fabrics, different vinyl patterns, and glittery kids school folders (like one that I am using here) that I use as a base when I photograph bubbles. As with any macro, most of the picture is out of focus so the idea is to find textures that create pleasing bokeh.Time
This was late evening, well after dark. Where I live in North Carolina, and especially during this unusually warm winter, temperatures rarely drop too far below freezing, and bubbles freeze best in even lower temperatures than plain water. In this case, my weather app was showing only a fairly small window of optimal temperatures and low enough wind speed, so I needed to act fast! The timing actually turned out great because I had been wanting to experiment with unusual lighting with frozen bubbles. So despite the moderately breezy 20°F temperatures I remember quiet happily shooting away for a good 90 minutes before retreating to the warm indoors.Lighting
This was a really special shoot because my oldest son took part through the whole process -- he has started to catch the photography bug and this was a perfect father/son activity. For this shot, the only light source was my iPad, which my son held for me. Earlier that day I had created an image to use as a background with a fractal design app. Whenever a bubble landed without popping, we would rush to our positions on either side of it, to take as many of the multi-second exposures as we could before a breeze destroyed it.Equipment
This was taken on a Canon 6D, using a Tamron 180mm/f3.5 macro lens. The longer focal length was essential with this shot because it allowed us to have the iPad screen far enough behind the subject to become unrecognizable, and not worry about seeing the edges of the screen. A shorter lens would have certainly required a larger screen for the same effect! The shot also obviously required a stable tripod, as the exposure was 2.5 seconds.Inspiration
I had already experimented with soap bubble photos a little this winter, but all had previously been early morning shots with sun in the background. I had been interested in trying flashes with colored gels as the light source, and earlier in the day of this shoot I had come up with the idea of using an iPad screen as a combined light source and background. The other main source of inspiration was my son, who has become interested in photography, and I was trying to come up with shots that would interest and involve him as well. All the pieces fell together beautifully!Editing
There was some fairly typical color balance, sharpening, clarity, etc. adjustments. There was one puddle of bubble liquid that was reflecting a very flat, dull gray color that I did a little bit of extra work on. I darkened it and added a little of the purple shade to it, so that it didn't stand out so much.In my camera bag
My Canon 6D is my only body, so that's the most important part of my bag. I'll almost always have the 24-105 kit lens with me, it's just such a useful focal range. I carry a Rokinon (aka Samyang) 24mm f1.4 lens for landscapes and starry nights, and have recently started experimenting with it mounted backwards as a roughly 3:1 macro lens. (As a fully manual lens there are absolutely no drawbacks to reversing this one!) And I'm rarely without my Tamron 180mm macro. I usually carry a flash for a just-in-case, as well as a few standard filters such as a CPL and a variable ND filter.Feedback
My main advice is that when it comes to creativity there is no such thing as too much experimentation. Almost every great idea starts with a "what if" (and most of the rest are serendipitous accidents). Macro photography, maybe more so than any other type of photography, gives you almost unlimited amount of control over the subject, background, and lighting. In so many cases, the limit truly is your imagination. So, expand that imagination, entertain those notions, and discover new ways to make art!
