I normally like to post current work that is seasonally appropriate here at NPN. But the Covid Pandemic has put a major crimp into my ability to get out to shoot. Here is one from late February 2020, taken just before the world got turned upside down.
Late winter is normally a good time to go looking for ice abstracts in streams where I live. As the days start to warm up you get periods of thawing and re-freezing that create some interesting patterns in the ice. All of the bubbles seen here are ice bubbles, everything had re-frozen after a cold night. This image covers an area of maybe 4 or 5 inches across.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any critique or comments are welcome
Technical Details
Is this a composite: Yes
Focus Stacked image, of 7 brackets for focal point, blended together using Helicon Focus software. I couldn’t get directly over the ice, so I shot it with a telephoto lens at an angle from the bank of the stream, thus needing to use focus stacking.
Canon 5D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens at 173mm, ISO 100
That is tremendous. The stacking brought out so much detail. I love it. The blue hues that range from sky to navy are so pleasing and work perfectly. Bravo!!
This has a wonderful graphic quality in my opinion. It could be a great b&w but is so much more interesting in color. It’s also a great subject that has so many other possibilities. I was going to recommend searching for composition closer to the subject but you can’t get much closer than 4 inches. These bubbles must be quite small.
I enjoy exploring this really nice technical and compositional accomplishment. I just noticed that rotated CCW the smaller bubbles seem to be rising, giving a different energy to the scene.
Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate your input.
And I haven’t either since I posted this yesterday.
Great minds think alike. I initially shot this with a 70-200mm lens from the stream bank, in order to stay dry. The bubbles were so nice that eventually when I got ready to head home, I bit the bullet and stepped into about a foot of water in the unfrozen part of the stream. I then got much closer with a macro lens, and I’ll post the tighter version in another post. It was worth it, despite my cold, wet feet.
Ed, I appreciate your willingness to show non-traditional subjects as I have plenty myself.
The focus stack worked well and your framing to capture a good range of bubble sizes and shapes keeps my interest. I really love how the bubbles deformed out of round as they froze - something you would never expect in their fluid state. Nice work!
Ed, this is such a wonderful abstract image. I am so glad you pulled it from the archive and shared it. It just holds my attention with all the different shapes, sized, shade of color, all of it. Thanks for sharing. I can’t think of a thing to improve it.
I feel your pain Ed about not being able to get out and about much of this past year and having to resort to going through older images. Works for me. I never would have guessed that this image is only 4 inches across. Well seen for sure. I love the variation throughout the image. I can look at this for several minutes without getting bored at all. Like some of the others, I really love the color pallet here with the various tones of blues. So glad you took one for the team and got in the water. Your discomfort paid off handsomely.
This is a beautiful stunning miniature landscape, Ed! The large version is particularly sweet as there is so much variety in the shapes of the bubbles that it lets my eye wander around the image taking it all in. The cooler blue tones look perfect for the lighting and help convey a sense of the colder temps of the wintertime. Beautifully done, No suggestions from me.
