Jammy Dodger

These are the last two shots from last week that I will share.

Both of these were really unexpected, but they are really amazing.

Sweetness

I missed posting yesterday but I have come back with a few pictures that I think are really cool.

I had been dripping milk droplets in all my other shots but I thought I would try adding a splash of colour. Firstly I tried colouring things with some strawberry milkshake but it was too pale to stand out, then I used some Vimto but that didn't work as well as it had in water.

I finally settled on strawberry syrup (for ice cream) and although it was a little more difficult to control the drops the results were really nice. I was surprised to see the clear crystal like shapes that emerged. You might need to enlarge the image to really see them 

Cool As Milk

Three more shots from my lockdown session at the weekend.

These were the result of releasing the droplets from varying heights and I think they make for some cool images.

Say What You See

Two more shots today to show off some of the beautiful shapes and patterns created simply by squeezing droplets of milk from a syringe .

You never know what you will get each time, whether it is a flying droplet, a sharp peak or a random ripple.

I chose these images today for the smooth textured shapes. The second shot looks rather like an inverted ceiling rose, I was amazed at the symmetry from something so random.

I love the first image too and apart from a random ripple I wonder what you can see. A bit like when you see shapes in clouds I think that when you look at images like this you can see different things. For example perhaps you can see a spoon, perhaps an eye or maybe a swaddled baby.

Milk

So here is my second blog post for today, after a prolonged period with nothing you are getting a double dose. The first post "Poppy" was a splash of colour from my neighbour's garden and this second offering is a splash of creativity from my fridge...

You may have seen some of my earlier lockdown offerings a couple of weeks ago when I set up a macro studio and experimented with water droplets. I thought they were really cool and I liked the metallic look of the water and the amazing droplets. So I thought I would try a similar set up but this time using milk.

I got some amazing shots and as usual I will drip feed (pun intended) them over the coming days.

These were among my first efforts and my first mistake was using a plate with a green patterned rim so I have had to crop that out. 

The first image is a little soft and fuzzy but nonetheless I think it looks quite cool.

I like the tiny orb balanced on the sharp spike in the third shot.

But my favourite image is the second one which looks a bit like looking down on the eye of a storm or perhaps like something in the far reaches of space.

Timing is everything when getting these shots, you never know what you will get but it is definitely worth the time and effort, at least I think so.

Uprising

Here are the final few smoky blue images from last weekend's lockdown photo session.

I like all these images but the second is my favourite which I have actually rotated through 90 degrees. 

I think that there is something of the northern lights about these although perhaps the colours are wrong for that.

I don't know about you but when I look at the third picture I can see the profile of a face

More Montana

These beautiful flowers grow in magnificent clusters and my garden has a wonderful display of pink and white and green.

The petals are so delicate like tissue and zooming in to the heart of the flower you see a mass of fine tendrils.

Mystery Blue

Sticking with the blue theme from the last few days I have switched from smoke to flowers.

These macro shots make the flower seem larger than life in reality they are smaller than a penny. 

I have called this post Mystery Blue because you might not immediately recognise what this flower is. It has something of an iris about it but can you guess what it is?

If you look at the leaves it may become more obvious...

It is in fact the flower of the herb Rosemary. Every time the plant comes in to flower I am surprised because I really don't expect it and it really is quite beautiful.

Cool Blue

Two more smokey blue images.

The first of these images is cropped and rotated clockwise through 90 degrees and I think it works really well.

I still have a few more of these to share and will do so in the coming days although I may break things up with some splashes of spring colour from my garden, come back tomorrow to see what I pick...

Whorls and Swirls

Here are three more images from my smoking experiment.

As I said yesterday there is an element of chance when photographing things like water and smoke because you cannot easily control or predict what will happen. You just have to try and set the conditions as best you can and hope that with a bit of experimentation and a lot of patience you can get some decent images.

Yesterday's ribbons of smoke were fairly simple but after a little more practice I achieved these more intricate and really beautiful whorls and swirls.

Gloop!

So much good weather lately and so many missed opportunities to get out with my camera I haven't felt too motivated to post anything for a few days. 

I thought today however that having finished work I would get creative and mess about with a few more of my water droplet images. I hope you like the results. 

When a drop of water falls and hits the surface it happens so quickly and there is so much that the eye cannot see in that moment. I love the way that freezing the moment and making a few adjustments with highlights and shadows you can capture the texture of the water and in the second shot I love the bubbles or individual droplets that are forming within the spout extending from the top of the main element almost like extruding glass.

Apple Blossom Time

I only have a small garden but there is room for a couple of fruit trees which are a real joy all year round.

Today's blooms are apple blossom from the espaliered apple tree that borders one side of the garden. It is a James Grieve variety a variety that dates back to 1893. The first year the tree produced just one apple and it was quite an event harvesting it and sharing it around at home. Each year there is a growing crop and the fruit is nice and sweet. But I think the apple blossom is really beautiful with a very delicate fragrance. Its lovely to think that each of these blooms has the potential to develop into a delicious apple.

Montana

So after a week without posting anything I decided to get creative again and I spent a little time over the Easter weekend. First of all I went into the garden and took some macro shots of the early spring blooms before heading indoors to take some unusual shots of household items which I will get to later in the week.

For today here are some fairly standard shots of the stunning Clematis Montana var wilsonii that forms a colourful and fragrant border to the garden. It is amazing how quickly the mass of buds has exploded into a mass of delicate pink flowers with the chartreuse and white stamen rather like tiny boiled sweets at their hearts. It is beautifully fragrant and later in the year it will be replaced by the delicate colours and scent of honeysuckle.

Creative with Cordial

So although I have several more cool images from this lockdown photo shoot these are the last ones I will share, for now at least.

After quite some time practising with positioning, lighting and shutter speeds I was really pleased to get some nice sharp droplets as in my posts from the last few days I went on to add a drop of colour to see what different effects I could achieve. 

I said yesterday that I used a mystery substance but there is nothing really mysterious about it, it is Vimto a sweet cordial. I had no idea whether it would work but I am really very happy with the results.

I went on to experiment with food colouring but it didn't work very well, it was perhaps too concentrated and dispersed quickly in the water so I think something thick and sticky like Vimto keeps its integrity longer.

In future I might try with different coloured syrups or even different coloured reservoirs  using juices or even milk so watch out. This lockdown period could bring out even more creativity.

Red Bubble

Two more water droplet shots 

For the majority of the session I was using plain old water dropped from a syringe and with a few adjustments it creates a nice metallic effect.

Towards the end I switched things up and used a mystery substance to add some colour. I wasn't sure how it would work out because I thought it might just get diluted instantly but happily it didn't as you can see.  I have a few more of these for tomorrow. If you want to know what the mystery substance was I will tell you tomorrow.

Drip Drip Drop

Here are a few more shots from my experimental macro/flash shoot yesterday.

Today I have also experimented with some of the settings in Lightroom, mostly just adjusting highlights and shadows and in the first image raising the temperature.

I am pleased with these and hope you like them too. I will be back tomorrow with some more.