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burning bubbles
burning bubbles
tcmartin


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Bubbles (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Location: Helena, MT (my basement)
Date: Sep 17, 2005
Aperture: f/13
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/160
Galleries: Abstract, Science and Technology
Date Uploaded: Sep 19, 2005

 This was quite a fun bunch of evenings for me. I must have taken a bazillion shots during all of the different trials. For anyone that is interested, here is the setup:

10 gallon aquarium.
standard aquarium lights (2-15 watt clear bulbs).
white foam board backdrop sitting about 5-inches behind the aquarium.
halogen desk lamp behind and to the side of the aquarium aimed only at the foam board.
A c-clamp and a hemostat from my fishing gear used to control the flow of the bubbles from the standard aquarium pump - 2 air lines.

I don't have any gels for my lights so I experimented with setting up a custom white balance off of colored pieces of paper. This gives the shot a colored tint as if it where shot in colored light. For this one I believe I set up on a red card, then shot a blue card with the red custom white balance and used this new picture for my custom white balance. It was kind of a mistake as I forgot to go back to auto or tungsten between different colored cards.

During the shot I had to use the on-camera flash to freeze the bubbles. It was so harsh that I mounted some tracing paper in a cardboard frame and used it to diffuse the flash. I held the diffuser in front of the flash with one hand and pushed the shutter release cable controller with the other hand.

The picture had sort of a purple hue to it. In post-processing which was just resizing and a little USM, I was adjusting the levels and found that if I picked a spot on the background for my medium grey, the levels adjustment knocked out the purple and actually improved the clarity of the bubbles so I went with it.

I don't know for sure what caused the gold flame-like spots and trails. I am guessing it is some internal refraction of the glass of the aquarium, the water, and the bubbles themselves. In all of my shots I saw a neat rangle of glod, green and blue trials.

Statistics
Place: 26 out of 240
Avg (all users): 6.0566
Avg (commenters): 7.4286
Avg (participants): 5.8922
Avg (non-participants): 6.1343
Views since voting: 1200
Views during voting: 473
Votes: 318
Comments: 16
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/27/2005 07:41:27 PM
Cool! 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/27/2005 01:42:13 PM
i tried this but just couldn't get them sharp enough.
well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/26/2005 09:03:28 PM
awesome picture..!!! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/26/2005 06:03:30 PM
Impressive clarity, sharpness and contrasts. Fun format!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/26/2005 03:29:56 PM
That's neat lookin'
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/26/2005 12:10:03 PM
I like this because of the crisp, clear feel it carries. The composition and size also work well, as does the framing. Nice work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/26/2005 06:46:20 AM
Awesome capture. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/22/2005 06:30:13 PM
NIcely done... bubbles in motion... I can see them rising up to the surface...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/22/2005 03:58:21 PM
Nice and clean.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/22/2005 02:22:55 PM
I like how they appear "thick" with the metallic coating.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/22/2005 06:58:51 AM
"sharp" bubbles are cool, nice work
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/22/2005 02:40:35 AM
These don't really look like bubbles.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/21/2005 08:02:07 PM
10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/21/2005 11:50:18 AM
Wow! I don't know what I'm looking at but it sure is interesting! Great bubble shapes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/21/2005 06:19:42 AM
Neat picture, almost looks like ice falling in water.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/21/2005 02:13:19 AM
nicely done .. nice composition ...
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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