Down the Trail
Sep, 2017Views
2007
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Awards
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Top Shot Award 22
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Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 36 Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 35 Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took the photo along a well-travelled part of the Cataraqui trail in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.Time
I had just picked up my new crystal ball at the post office and was excited to give it a try. I wanted to visit some favourite nature trails north of the city, but my wife was going to need a ride home soon so I opted to take a short hike down the Cataraqui trail in Kingston since it is only a few minutes from home and gave me more time to experiment. It was around 2pm, the sun was hot, and the trail was unusually quiet.Lighting
The trees on the trail left just the right mix of shadow and light for this photo. I tried a few different angles and this one just sort of "fell into place" to make an amazing image. A small note about crystal ball photos in the early afternoon: direct sunlight + a glass sphere = burnt fingers if you aren't careful!Equipment
Since all I wanted to do was experiment with the new crystal ball, I was travelling light. I had a small sling camera bag, my Canon T5i camera, the crystal ball, and 2 lenses with me (24mm prime and a nifty fifty). I chose the 50mm for this image because of the small aperture.Inspiration
I had spent some time off the trail in fields and bicycle paths taking some experimental shots and was getting a bit overheated with the early afternoon sun. I worked my way back to the trail and found myself in a nicely shaded spot and then realized that the Cataraqui trail was unnaturally quiet at that moment. I looked left and then right and realized I just might have a great shot available. So despite the fact that I wanted to just rest in the shade, out came the crystal ball again and I started looking for the right angle. I exhausted myself trying to hand-hold the ball, and decided "why not take the shot from the ground". This was probably my third attempt from the ground, laying on my belly in the gravel and as soon as I snapped it I knew I had a winner!Editing
While some people may say that landscapes need lots of editing, I really try to keep my post-processing to a minimum. I use lightroom and I always like to tweak the contrast a bit and add just a bit extra vibrance. I learned the dehaze tool is fantastic for crystal ball photography when applied locally to just the ball in this case. In a sphere, your image gets flipped upside-down, so I did use photoshop to "flip" the image in the ball, but other than that I did as little post processing as I could to this particular image.In my camera bag
Lately, I only carry my 50mm and my 24mm lens with my Canon T5i. In my bag you'll now always find a crystal ball, spare batteries, micro fiber cloths, an ND filter, and a polarizing filter. Occasionally I might also toss in my speed flash. Other than that, I bring equipment only as necessary for what I want to shoot. If I'm shooting an event, I may bring even less with me, limiting myself only to what I can carry in my pockets.Feedback
If you're looking to capture a great image in a crystal ball, my best advice would be to experiment, experiment, experiment! I have discovered so many things by accident when all I originally wanted to do was capture some cool forest photos. Please be extremely careful with a crystal ball in the sunlight though, because a sphere is basically a giant magnifying glass. Don't leave the ball unsupervised, and definitely don't leave it uncovered in your car! I've been about to take a snapshot and noticed the moss at the bottom of the ball was smouldering, and more than a few times I've felt the bee-sting pain of the sun burning my fingers while I held the ball. I always keep a drawstring pouch to put the ball inside with me, or I store it zipped up inside my camera bag unless I'm using it.
