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.

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.

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.

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.

Ribbons of Smoke

A second helping of creativity for today...

I have been trying to find ways to get my photography fix but it has been really challenging. I have going out for the occasional walk along the sea front but as that has been for exercise I have left my camera at home, it has been a shame though because there have been some stunning sunsets that would have been great to share. (I did snap a few shots on my mobile phone's camera but haven't uploaded them).

Anyway after experimenting with  water droplets recently I wondered if there was something else I could try using my macro lens and lighting setup and hit upon  smoke trails...

These were shot against a blue background, lit from each side using spotlights and frozen using fast shutter speeds and camera mounted ring flash. 

There is an element of chance with this type of photography because each shot is random and unique and can range from simple elegant ribbons of smoke to more complex swirls and curls. Apart from the third image I have stuck with some of the simpler patterns for today but I will be sharing some of the more dramatic shots over the next few days so be sure to look out for them.

As a side note while I was sorting through these images I was reminded of a beautiful bit of cinematography from the 1981 French movie "Diva" where a cigarette burning in an ashtray where the lighting and the curl of smoke mirrors  the cover of an old French cigarette packet.

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.

Lockdown Fun

Although I still have lots of pictures I could sort through and share from past shoots I thought that today I would try something I have never tried before and I am really pleased with the results.

For these shots I used my 100mm macro lens and my ring flash and I set up a mini studio on my dining table with two small spotlights to add extra highlights. I hadn't really used the flash properly before so my first challenge was working out how to synchronise the flash so I could use a fast shutter speed (1/1250ms to 1/2000ms). Once I got that sorted I used a medicine syringe to drop water into a bowl filled to the brim. It was a case of trial and error to get the droplets in the right spot and to fire the shutter at the right time.

I was able to create a lot of interesting effects; I will share a few more over the next few days but for today enjoy these. I think they are really cool!