Trajectory (Wire Wool Spinning & Star Trails), Jurassic Coast

Trajectory (Wire Wool Spinning & Star Trails), Jurassic Coast, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This is a wire wool spinning shot from Winspit Cove on Dorset's Jurassic Cove. The trail up to the spinning is torch/flashlight as I groped my way up the piled rocks. That is my one regret with this shot. Re-assessing things, that is my one regret with this image; I think it might have worked better if I'd used the flashlight to light the path up, then put a diffuser on it and concentrated on making sure there was a clean, single line the whole way back down. At the moment I think it's a little too patchy to be really effective.

It's another shot with the assistance of the Hooded Accomplice. It's a kind of lonely location, and this was also quite a bit of work to pull off - not least eighty odd flashes with a red gel to bring out the texture of the rock around the bowl of the quarry. We both feel the foreground rocks probably picked up a bit too much red from this exercise; re-shooting I think we'd try to mask out the bottom of the frame with some shaped black card to avoid this.

There's just one key piece of processing to note; in photoshop I masked out the sky and wire wool trails overlapping it, then changed the white balance. That helped the quarry and trails stayed red, whilst bringing out the blue of the sky for a little more interest. Apart from that it's all in camera.

Hope everyone is fantastically well.

Pipedream #1 (All In Camera Light Painting), Loose

Pipedream #1 (All In Camera Light Painting), Loose, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
It took about twenty minutes in the middle of the night to set up in the middle of a wintery pool, wellies full of water by the end of it. Five minutes later my flash, which I'd brought out solely to test, stopped working... If anyone knows about fixing Metz flashes, please message me! It still makes noises, and the button glows, it just doesn't flash. In this case "two out of three ain't bad" ceases to apply.

Anyway, having set up I figured I'd just trying gelling my flashlight/torch instead, and ended up with a shot I'm happy with and some neat lessons around lighting a scene.

Lighting is from a Lenser MT7 flashlight - first with a turquoise gel beneath the water (in a zip lock freezer bag), then with an amber gel aim along the wall from the right, and vertically down on the scene from the top of the wall.

More to follow from the location in future. Hope every one is having an amazing Christmas/holiday run.

10,000 Mistakes (19 Stop ND Venice Waterfront), Venice

10,000 Mistakes (19 Stop ND Venice Waterfront), Venice, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
"The difference between a Zen master and an apprentice is 10,000 mistakes".

Like most of my Sliders Sunday postings, this is pretty much straight out of camera. There's some significant "real world sliding", however, in this case, I'm shooting through stacked 9 and 10 stop ND filters. That 19 stop ND filter delivers just over a 500,000 times increase to shutter speeds!

Thus, this ten minute exposure was taken in light that without the filters would have wanted a 1/500 shutter speed.

I'm not sure I like the result, yet wanted to share what happens when you stack these filters. The most interesting features, to my mind, are the odd colour casts, and the fun light leaks. I think the two orange spikes in the lower corners are from lit getting in between little notches on the filter threads. The really cool light leak is far right - those fierce stripped vertical slashes. I've no idea what brought them into being, but I like them. They're not something I ever thought I'd get SOOC shooting digital - a real film feel.

The semi-invisible seagull along the water's edge; he was creeping up on us as we ate our lunch behind the camera.

Anyway, I hope people find the experiment interesting here, even if the shot is a little sub-par. Have a fantastic weekend! And HSS!

Twi'lek (Harlequin Carnival Mask), Venice

Twi'lek (Harlequin Carnival Mask), Venice, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This is taken in the wonderful Ca' del Sol mask makers in Venice. It's an incredible shop, with wonderful photographer friendly owners. I'd recommend a visit to anyone and everyone, especially if you want to take pictures. www.cadelsolmascherevenezia.com/en/masks/.

I found out on this visit that they do tours of their workshop - definitely something I will try to book ahead of our next visit.

"Ta-daaa!", Jessica In Scarf & Hat

"Ta-daaa!", Jessica In Scarf & Hat, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
My first shot uploaded with the new Flickr app. If you haven't downloaded it yet, check it out! It is beyond stunning; great camera, processing and Flickr integration... and free.

This is a recent JSH shot at a nearby café, getting ready to charge about in the puddles.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying their Friday evening!

Ferroviaria (Gondola Ferro), Venice

Ferroviaria (Gondola Ferro), Venice, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
So the title is my attempt at a multi-lingual pun. Quick shot along the Grand Canal of all the gondola prows, or "ferri".

"The ornament on the front of the boat is called the fèrro (meaning iron) and can be made from brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. It serves as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern."
- Wikipedia

"...a multi-pronged ferro, or prow. The prow's origins are even more mysterious than those of the gondola - some have five pettini, or prongs, some six (perhaps symbolic of Venice's six sestieri, or districts). The prow's single prong facing aft may be a symbol of the Doge's Palace, the Giudecca island, Cyprus (part of Venice's former empire) or Piazza San Marco. The broad-edged "blade" capping the prow may represent the sea, a lily, a doge's hat, a Venetian halberd or the Rialto Bridge. Depending who you believe, the ferro was inspired by Roman galleys, a judicial axe or the funerary barges of ancient Egypt."
- Telegraph Travel Online

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Gondola In 60 Seconds Revisited, Venice

Gondola In 60 Seconds Revisited, Venice, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This weekend I was back in Venice after two years away, so thought I'd try to re-shoot an older shot (see comments below). It's the same view north from the Rialto Bridge, up the Grand Canal.

This time there was no rain, so no bathmat tripod/rain cover to interfere. When dry, the edge of the bridge makes a perfect improvised tripod. Moreover on a full frame camera, the 24mm is perfect for the view - getting that building to the right in; a neat balance to the white building on the left, and home to some very nice blue posts!

Last time I was shooting late on when the black sky offered little. This time I got there just at sun down. The pale blue clouds blurred over the long exposure and bizarrely now look like clear sky to the right. All in all, I'm pleased with the revisit. It lacks some of the raw power of the first shot - the water is a bit less crazy, for instance, but it seems altogether crisper and more dependable.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Sky Tide, Morro Rock

Sky Tide, Morro Rock, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Quick one from the summer trip to California, as like all of us I imagine, I whizz around trying to get work done before Christmas strikes. I've managed to shoot quite a bit over the last few weeks, yet not found time to post, so here's trying to get the momentum back up.

I shot this one chiefly for the droplet. If I'd had a tripod and some way of freezing time, I'd love to have caught a perfectly focused Morro Rick refracted in the drop under the (very twitchy) seagull's beak. Sadly I had neither, so this is as good as it gets. I am a fan of the texture of the OOF clouds playing against rock face in that hard backlight.

Hope everyone is having a great week!