Down By The Lake.

Night

Sometimes when I wander, It happens to be the night time. I don't do it a whole lot for a variety of reasons, but I do have fun when I happen to find myself outside, in the dark, with my camera and tripod.

It is a nice time for reflecting. One main reason for that is the slow pace things happen. You have to find something, set up, frame it *Just* right, and then expose it. Maybe a couple of times to get the light right, or see what happens in different settings and different exposure times.

 

Everything is quiet, too. Even the city. Well, sometimes the city. Regardless, it is a sort of meditation in and of itself. A time to slow down.

...And Fire in the sky.

Hiding The Sun

Oh, that's where bags come from

Following the theme of looking up, and spontaneous ocular explosions, a game I like to play sometimes is called "Hide the sun". It is as self explainatory as it sounds, but for the people without PhD's, these pictures will serve as guide to what all these words mean.

But first, a personal note: From time to time, though it has been a while, I will have dreams, but the lighting is all wonky. like, there is a night sky, but everything is lit up as though it were day? Y'know? These picture serve the same emotion as those dreams. I think it is the contrast of light and dark, or maybe it is just too much sun particles .

The sun itself can serve as a great tool on a number of different levels, as well as changing the nature of the scene. There is a nice crisp halo that really pops when you block the full intensity of the sun.

Try it sometime. Just stick your thumb over the sun, or stand in somethings shadow. I'm too lazy to figure out any science stuff about it, but feel free to figure it all out with your googles. My bet is on some enterprising physics master explaining it all to everyone in the comments.

Repent! the end is near!

Thanks to digital capabilities, you can play around with the exposure, and find one that is right for you. Maybe you want your light to ooze around the edges of what you are hiding the sun with. Maybe you just want a straight up silhouette without any fancy shizzle mucking up your subject background. You are the master of your exposure, and the light longs for your attention to the detail with which you use to hide it. My basic rule is that if you can find a shadow, than you can play this game.

Looking Up

Don't stare at the sun, they always said.

I see a little silhouetta of a man

Makes sense, considering that our eyes are organic magnifying glasses. I don't know about any of you, but when I discovered that adding Sun to a Magnifying Glass equals Fire, I was pretty stoked. I'm sure that it doesn't work EXACTLY the same way...literal police, I'm looking at you...but whoever said not to had a good point.

In the mean time, however, there is photography, which allows you to stare at the sun for as long as you want. More so than staring at the sun is the allure of staring into a clear blue sky, or a bright sky with blue and clouds.

Storms comin'

I like the contrast of the sky and trees. I like the way things look in the way that you look at them, as well. The angle feels neat in my eyeballs.

Also, it's good to keep an eye out, you know, just in case something is falling towards you, or whatever.

Shouldn't we lie down, or put a paper bag over our heads, or something?

Zoe, the cat

Weow

Cats. This is my sisters cat, Zoe.

RAWR!

We get to chill around Christmas when we all get together.

The eyes of a killer!

She doesn't hiss at me too much, but will let you know when to back off.

Sarcasm detected!

I like animals because they are ALWAYS going to be candid. They don't understand (I assume) what's happening with the camera, and never ham it up. Though, now that I type it, it occurs to me that I really have no clue, and they could be quite aware that being cute is the best course of action.

Dangle that finger one more time...

Mostly, though, the biggest issue with cats, and dogs, is that they will usually come over to you if you kneel down to take a picture, because they think that you want to pet them. Which I usually do, but it is not so conductive to getting the shot.


Meow.

Fire

 

Killing time...With Fire!

I am the type of person who will try pretty much anything once. I am also easily swayed when someone proposes a "good" idea to me about something. 

So when embarking on an outing to a friends house, lets call him Jon, I was excited when he asked me to bring my camera, because:

A) His apartment is the bomb for eclectic odds and ends lying around in wait for someone to photograph, and

B) The last time we had these same circumstances, we burned things. 

Not simply for the sake of burning things, really. Mostly due to the fact that fire is quite the canvas with which  to paint, in a manner of speaking. It is also of great importance to mention that our collective brains work in this way:

"What do you think would happen if we did X?"

"Lets find out."

Have you ever seen a glass starfish burning before? Now you have.

I have always had a long-standing love affair with fire. Sitting around one while camping, or just wherever there happened to be a fire, was worse than crack and TV combined. I would sit for hours (or until it was time to eat) staring into the flames. Now, I have the ability to try and capture that for others.

Fire is its own thing, though. It makes light, heat, crispy bacon, ETC, but when it moves, it dances in the most beautiful and unexpected ways.

We didn't start the fire. Actually, we did. Carry on.

Fire needs two things. 

Fuel, and Respect. Seriously, respect the flames. I don't need to tell you, but I will re-state it for any budding pyros out there:  RESPECT THE FLAME!

Self portrait.

I guess it is all a part of the need to connect, and with fire there you can connect to it in whatever way you desire. Project yourself, your feelings, hurts, thoughts, old documents...Fire don't care, man. It just burns! But when it burns back at you, you can not only feel the warmth, but see the dance that is presented to you. For your eyes only. Like seeing shapes in clouds.

My drink of choice.

From a photographic point of view, fire can diversify everything as well. It is a harsh mistress, for it is not a constant light source, and  needs a lot of attention. So, Burn with a friend, kids! The buddy system is not for losers, it is to keep you burning. Also, wind will be a factor, for good or bad, so think ahead if you are outdoor burning. I will usually shoot with Auto White Balance, but for a whiter flame try the Incandescent setting.

Shutter speed will affect the flame in your picture in the way you would most likely expect it to: The faster the shutter, the less movement of the flame. Slow it down and you'll get a lot more streaking. Set your aperture to compensate for the intensity of the flame.

The golden rule: Fire is golden.

All Photos in this set were created using Ronsonol  brand lighter fluid, under strict supervision, and with proper ventilation*

*Not really, but YOU should