Hello Everyone!
I've been feeling bored with outdoor photography lately (and photography in general); so yesterday I forced myself to try something abstract indoors. Bubbles were the first thing that came to mind mostly because they required the least amount of unmotivated effort.
The setup was a rectangular Pyrex baking dish filled with water, a little Gain dish liquid, some vegetable oil, and a few drops of red & blue gel-type food coloring. I positioned the baking dish on 2 speaker stands with a soft box (unfiltered) lying on the floor below/to the side. Lastly I used a straw to blow up some bubbles.
All the images were taken on a tripod using just an old kit lens I hadn't used in a year (18-55mm). Settings for all except the last one were …
Shutter Priority (1/250th)
f/25-29, 45-55mm
center-weighted average metering
ISO on automatic (12,800)
**The last image was Aperture Priority (f/8), Shutter 1/100th, and ISO set manually at 250, and center-weighted average metering.
Post processing was adjusting in Basic settings and cropping in PS Camera Raw.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the lens performed. I didn't like all the noise, but that was my fault for knowingly setting ISO in auto. I probably should've played more with the aperture and paid more attention to what I was focusing on as well. In the end, I am generally happy with how these turned out which, in turn, has motivated me into picking up my camera again.
Hope you all are well!
Love 'em all, Jennifer! Simple (well, reasonably - you've gone to a bit of trouble) and effective. I particularly like the subtle play of colour from the iridescence in the bubbles' reflections, and your use of the dyes.
Incidentally, I suspect that a polariser may accentuate the play of colour in the bubble-surface reflections - car photographers use them to create this rainbow effect in the reflections from the clear plastic headlight covers on most cars today. Not sure if this would also happen with the bubbles, but easy enough to find out if you try this again.
The first image appeals the most to me, evoking some alien landscape because of the depth and "mist". In this case the slight OOF effects in the background of the image work to its benefit, to my eye, enhancing the sense of depth. (Any "real" Fstopper would have done a multi-image focus stack here... sigh... pardon my cynicism... just because you CAN do it doesn't mean you should...)
I'm not surprised the kit lens worked well - why shouldn't it? It's not work requiring extreme sharpness, lens speed or syrupy bokeh. FS' focus is largely equipment, and there's a place for that, but sometimes the technical aspects here seem to drown the art. It's not about the gear - it's about your creativity and imagination. Well done!
Thank you, Chris. I appreciate all the comments. I have to say I do get unmotivated because of all the equipment I don't have; but, on the other hand, lately I've been hearing a lot of lamenting from the technical photography community about how times are changing, how the public isn't interested in technically perfect images anymore, and how all the technical knowledge has gone out the window. It's confusing and changing quickly. As for multi-focus stacking - I get what you're saying about not using it all the time. At the same time, it's something I don't know anything about; so now you got me looking into it; so thank you! Also I have polarisers, but they're still sitting unused in my bag. Another thing I thank you for recommending.
Hope you are well and enjoying spring in your part of the world. I always appreciate reading your posts.
All cool but I particularly like the first one because it looks very close to a strange mountain landscape.
I agree, Charles! Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it.
Great job Jenny, I like them all. The first one reminds me of an alien landscape. Very creative!
Thank you, Rich! I agree on the alien landscape. Hope you are doing well!
These are great, Jennifer. Like others have commented, I love the "terrain" in the first one, but I'm also enjoying the iridescent colours which are coming through a little more in the second and third. A great idea for an abstract indoor shoot!
Thanks, Mike, for looking and commenting! I appreciate it!