Traces (N° 010) - breath drops

[habakuk]

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[Uroplatus]

This photo envokes some childhood memories. I remember back in Middle School, I learned a great deal about shading in art class. I would sit back and draw water drops/bubbles all day and shade them... There would be big ones and small ones...but all would be just about touching each other.

This photo reminds me of those drawings but in a very uplifting shade of blue. I like this photo becauses it draws a cool refreshing feeling, something you want to see on a hot dry summer day... along with a nice cold beer!!!  

One thing that is a bit wierd is the top portion. It seems to be cut off... simular to the lower portion of your feather photograph. Making me feel kind of closed in.  Other than that... I like it.

[eob]

In my eyes, the shape created by little bubbles looks like some kind of exotic jelly-fish suspended in the water. I quite like it...

[habakuk]

Thank you. Well, there was no space left on the upper border... this is shot on a small window, after a night in a small room, with cold outside temperature. The breath left these traces of condensed water on the glass.

And yes, it does remind me too of a jelly fish...

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[DrngdKreationz]

Ya know, I can never really find anything I would want changed or adjusted on your photos Roland.

I love the color in this, and for some reason, the shading gives it a 3 dimensional feel to it that makes it look like more than just breath drops on a plane of glass. Did you do any dodging/burning to maximize this? or was it this stunning from the get go?

[eob]

Ya know, I can never really find anything I would want changed or adjusted on your photos Roland.

Same here! That's because Roland uses telepathy and extrasensory perception to get ahead of our complaints and fixes everything even before we find anything to complain about...

[habakuk]

Did you do any dodging/burning to maximize this? or was it this stunning from the get go?

Well, a bit of both. I usually am stunned by a scene, and then try to capture that moment on the chip. Then at home in my digital darkroom, I try to use the tools to bring that wow effect I personally had in the real situation back into the shot. That might require some exaggeration, like the contrast here. But I usually just try to get the shot to the same perception effect it had in real for me.

Here, I was laying on the bed, looking up to the window, and thus had a steep viewing angle. The light from the sunrise really made the drops shin in some parts, while the still rather dark blue sky gave a strong contrast in the other parts of the drops.

But to get a decent DOF, I had to shoot much more parallel, and then I tried to bring back that wow effect I had when lying on the bed, looking up to the drops on the window.

So, yes, these shots, especially those of the Traces series, usually come from moments of stunning over the beauty of nature. But I use Photoshop to try to bring the digital views of those moments to that level of stunning.

And, please, there's LOTS of stuff you can complain about. E.g. that I always use just one lens: my trusty old, small, light weight Sigma 18-200mm travel lens... (With the exception of a few macro shots).   Seriously, usually I spot ten flaws per shot- but not before I uploaded it to public forums. 

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