We all need a little sparkle in our lives in the days after Christmas. If we are not careful these post Festive weeks can be quite dull and depressing. Not for me. I've been experimenting with the camera. This is our Christmas Twig. Not a tree, but a branch lopped off from the hedge behind the garden. I've not had a real tree for a few years now, and this year returned to my childhood with a branch, painted white. Something my father did a few times in the 1960's. It always struck me as a cool thing to do. I also thought it was because of his arty background and career. But he told me this year the first time he painted a tree was on a Boxing Day in the early 60's, after the real tree had shed every needle before Christmas Day. Not quite as Bohemian romantic as I remembered, more practical necessity.
For a few years now I've loved experimenting with rotating the camera 45 to 90 degrees while taking an image. I love the effect. The aim is to have the centre pin sharp, or as much as possible, with the periphery providing movement and pace. I've obtained some quite dramatic images doing this, but I'd never tried it with a lit tree at night. I like it a lot. The top image is using the camera's own auto setting. However the middle image was a manual 1/8th of a second shot. I love the individual sparkles of light. Jagged and jerky because this is a hand held image. Making me think how much more fun would it be to have the camera on a fixed pivot, such as a tripod. Humm, that's got me thinking.
 |
| How the twig really looks |
No comments:
Post a Comment