...different camera
Ok, I know I promised, and I really thought it would be easy not to create any flower photos this weekend considering that the Brikon is miles away in Riebeek Kasteel, but then one of my wonderful sisters pointed out that the last lily to open was begging for its portrait to be taken...
so I used my camerathatmakesphonecalls...
...the dance of the st joseph's lily flower-pod starts by opening with the teeniest peek - just the very tips of the petals are allowed to stop clinging quite so tightly and furl out ever so slightly for a few days. Until all of a sudden one morning the flower decides it's time to spring open, curling backwards to form a bright white faux-spiky base for the stamens and stigma. The former are smooth, velvety, musky pink, each with a pair of dark tight lips that slowly form a first a sneer, then a smile, revealing a mouthful of fluffy orange teeth. In just a few hours these are completely folded inside out, and spend the next few days distributing the sticky orange pollen along with a delightfully strong sweet scent...
- - - - - - - -
How to make a cheap and simple studio flower shot:
- have nice person send flowers; let flowers mature,
- place flowers in best available light (in this case the kitchen sink),
- use plastic that flowers came wrapped in as background & light diffuser (saved especially for this purpose),
- use black-jacketed book by Bill Bryson to provide dark backgound (dark background images rejected, but not on account of book content)
- dig out headlamp from makeup bag and contort body into awkward position to provide self-held backlighting,
- use faucet for camera support and upturned bowl on drying rack for elbow support,
- hold shutter down for a while until phone realises that you're not sending an sms but taking a photo
No animals, books, or flowers were harmed in the making of these images, and only one wine glass was broken.
self portrait with invisible camera
Hm, me likes the idea of the backing cellophane stuff... can even take this outdoors, to diffuse unwanted background clutter. You'll just need eight or nine people to control it in the $#@ south easter...
ReplyDeleteI like this post.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have a camerathatmakesphonecalls - but definitely not to the quality of your close up shots. What make and model... do tell!
Hope your elbow wasn't bruised :-)
Thanks Pete! I have a Nokia N93, which does admittedly take rather good pics for a phone. It does have a proper Carl Zeiss lens though, which in turn makes it quite bulky for a phone, but about the same size of a muk-en-druk (point and shoot) camera. It has a flip-around-and-twisty-over screen, the down side of which means its sometimes awkward and clumsy when taking photos, but the upside is that it's perfect for getting those awkward angle shots, like these of the flowers. And my elbow's fine, thank you!
ReplyDeleteBRILLIANT!!!! (photo of flower AND corresponding commentary!) Have already passed on your site to a couople of would-be fans : ) (and LOVE Bill Bryson! You're obviously a quality person! ; ) haha)
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