Exploding Magnolia.

OK. So this is level 3. In-camera multiple-exposure, in continuous shutter-release mode while zooming (that is the lens and not the video thingie). By the way level 4 (as yet unattempted) is the same while spinning the camera - zooming by holding the lens fixed. Level 5 is all that while standing on one leg.

Level 6 (which is used in the Olympic qualifying trials) is level 5 with your eyes shut…

This image of the blossoming tree just outside the village church was taken at the end of March during my permitted exercise (a novel phrase which joins the rich idiom of British English this year).

Magnolias are interesting because they are one of the oldest groups of plants in our Flora. They are thought to pre-date bees and have developed to be pollinated by beetles with large tough flowers.

I quite like the stepped effect you get with this - similar to an ICM, but kind of different. I’ve tried this on lots of subjects (as you might guess with me) and doubtless I shall inflict some more on you real soon now. But I've already determined that it doesn’t work too well in low contrast scenes with receding perspectives - like roads and paths through woods. And it chews up disk - 200 MBytes a pop with the underlying raws saved, and my NAS has just had a drive failure…

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image :)

[Handheld in daylight.
In-camera multiple-exposure using continuous shooting at about 5fps.
Developed from the jpeg in Capture One increasing contrast and colours.]

Tags:   blur church exploding explosion magnolia multiple exposure perspective zoom blur architecture old outdoors no person gothic building stone sky tower religion town

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Churchyard.

Another one taken at the same time as the Exploding Magnolia. So a Multiple Exposure (8 images?) shot with continuous release at 5 fps while zooming the zoom (far to much zoom in my life just now... :) ).

This technique is very subject critical. I think ideally it seems to work best with a light "subject" with distinct form against a dark background. Buildings or recognisable objects are much better than natural things like hedges or trees.

Anyway, yet another sepia toned shot. Perhaps I'm getting over that allergy. Mind you I also have an allergy to frames...

Another one for the Thursday Monochome group, and another for my 100x Monochrome and Toned (only dozens behind now ;) ).

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Monochrome Thursday and 100x!! :)

[Nik Silver Efex.]

Tags:   Sepia monochrome vintage Black And White no person retro tree sepia pigment art Donnerstagsmonochrom Monochrome photography Thursday Monochrome Multiple Exposure 100 x: The 2020 Edition 100x:2020 Image 24/100

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Recent research has proved what most of us already know: that watching the flickering flames of a real fire is relaxing and soothing. The stimulus induces a physiological change in the brain’s chemistry.

More intriguingly it also appears to heighten our receptivity to storytelling. There are probably good evolutionary reasons for this, but I shall gloss over them just now (hopefully before you drift to sleep :) ).

This is a ten-frame, in-camera multiple exposure of a burning log in the fireplace in my front room. They were all taken during an interval of about one second using continuous shutter release.

Many of the older houses in the rural Southwest of England, and a lot of the pubs still have open fires for burning logs. There’s nothing quite like going into the common room of a public house, scented with wood smoke, and drinking warm real ale by a crackling fire, all snug and cosy (that’s when you aren’t playing skittles in the skittle alley round the back of course ;) ).

This image is part of a series I have created while investigating my 100x theme of Motion. I have been looking for a way of producing an image that captures my visual perception of flickering flames.

For photographing a fire you have two ways of going with a camera: you either take a long exposure and get a blurry waterfall-blur type of image, or you use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.

But neither of these work at all effectively, at least to my mind. The freeze-frame produces a lightweight image with pockets of burning gas often suspended unrealistically above the main fire, and the blurry version just looks so artificial and synthetic.

So I thought I would try a stacked image. I think this is better but still not quite natural. There is a lot of movement and change in the space of one second and it is that change that our eyes are continually responding to that cannot be captured in a still image.

I’ll post a link to one of the single images that make this up in the first comment, so you can see how they differ.

I rather like the shape of this one - very heraldic, hence the title given in my best heraldic language :) . I’ve heavily sharpened it to bring out the textures in the flames - there’s an amazing amount going on in just one second.

This is for my 100x project, and is also the basis for my Sliders Sunday mangling today, which I hope to publish later.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy 100x :)

[Ten-image, in-camera multiple exposure; firelight (just in case you hadn’t noticed ;) ).
Developed using Capture One for contrast and colour.
Processed in Affinity with lots of sharpening, and a Levels adjustment to take out most of the surrounding reflections from the fireplace.]

Tags:   fire flames lion passant heraldry multiple exposure stacking 100 x: The 2021 Edition 100x:2021 Image 18/100

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So today’s Idea to Try was notable in its unsophistication.

I’d noticed before that if you take a multiple-exposure within a short timeframe you’d end up with a blurry image… but not quite like a wobbly camera one.

The result is more like a stop-frame animation. And (so the thinking went) that can be interesting because you get more detail in the individual frames and a sharpness in the edges.

Yeah, well. This is attempt #1. Again I went for a subject with defined edges and high tonal contrast, so that we retained an inkling of what it was about.

This was taken a couple of months ago, about the same time the idea quantum mechanically popped into my brain (it remains a topic for research as to quite what happened to the anti-idea that must have been produced at the same time, but I digress).

Two other observations warrant a note. Firstly that it’s been a while since I have processed a black and white (it was my 100x last year) and I really quite enjoyed it. I’ll have to do some more...

Secondly that I went for a really fuzzy look with grain in the processing, which kind of mucked up the experiment entirely (all that nonsense about sharp edges)...

Thirdly this is an image of nothing much in particular. But I rather like it. Weird.

Fourthly I am really quite fascinated by the way snowdrops move in the wind - they all oscillate at different frequencies. But I’ll say more about that later (assuming the anti-idea don’t reappear and annihilate my brain of course).

Fifthly, I’ve invented the MExICM genre in case you hadn’t noticed, but I’m keeping quiet about it just now.

Sixthly. I can’t count. But most people won’t read this drivel (because they are Sensible People) so I should be OK…

For my 100x project on Motion, and for the marvellous (but never the comic) Donnerstagsmonocrom (just how do you spell that? I know... T-H-A-T. Gosh it’s been a really bad day…) group. Oh, and Monochrome Bokeh Thursday :)

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Monochrome Thursday and 100x. HMBT :)

[Handheld in daylight. Ten image multiple-exposure processed in-camera.
Developed in Capture One for colour contrast.
Sharpened in Affinity
Converted in Nik Silver Efex with high structure, low detail, yellow filter, lots of grain and burnt edges on all sides.
Dark vignette in Affinity.]

Tags:   monochrome nature flower Blur dof wedding beautiful color flora garden focus art desktop bright Black And White Closeup Abstract summer tree Sepia Donnerstagsmonochrom Thursday Monochrome 100 x: The 2021 Edition 100x:2021 Image 25/100 Motion HMBT

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Snowdrops.

This is an in-camera multiple exposure, part of my project exploring the semblance of motion in photography.

Snowdrops dance beautifully in a light breeze, like white bells passing the melody one to another. Although there wasn’t the right wind when I took this image, I wanted to experiment with using multiple exposure combined with camera wiggle to create the same effect.

The distinctive shape of the little flowers and the strong contrast between the white and the green suggested that this might work. Because it’s all about the moving shapes I thought a monochrome version would also prove effective.

My last 100x was about black and white photography and, although I found the project a bit tedious towards the end. Subsequently, I have discovered that the project has left me with a lasting love of the medium, so it’s nice to get back to trying a few.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Monochrome Thursday and 100x :)

[Handheld in daylight; a ten-image in-camera multiple exposure with continuous shutter release and a little camera wiggle.
Developed and processed in Affinity, for colour and clarity.
Converted in Nik Silver Efex, starting from a high structure/high contrast preset, and tweaked for more of the same. Dark vignette and burnt edges particularly at the top. Used a film preset to add grain and contrast.]

Tags:   Donnerstagsmonochrom Thursday Monochrome black and white monochrome snowdrop Multiple Exposure Movement Motion 100 x: The 2021 Edition 100x:2021 Image 28/100

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