The Parallel Project – Starburst

On January 24, 2011January 24, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, The Parallel Project20 Comments

There are special filters that you can buy to create those “star-burst” effects from very bright points of light, but you can also do this by using a small aperture, the aperture rings in the lens will help to produce this same star-burst effect without you going out and buying those filters. Of course, the filters do give some very neat effects 🙂

I had intended this experiment for a night scene, but as I was in the park accompanying Nikhil, I thought I’d try it out using the sun as my source of bright light. (I even took shots with a larger aperture to make sure it was working as it should)

The Tree in the Park. 1/30s, f/16, ISO 400, 18mm

The Parallel Project – Cross Polarization

On January 17, 2011January 17, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, The Parallel Project15 Comments

I say cross-polarization and people ask me about bees and plants, its polarization not pollination! Yet, I do miss those bees and the flowers shots, I must go hunting soon!

This week’s experiment is in cross-polarization. If you’ve even wore polarized sunglasses (and I haven’t because I wear spectacles already), you might have seen strange patterns on car windshields, the polarised sunglasses are revealing areas of the glass that was put under stress during the manufacturing process, the patterns resulting when using the polarised sunglasses are a phenomenon known as “birefringence”.

The important part of all this is that the results have a very cool effect when combining a polarised filter on the camera with a polarised light source through a transparent material that has gone through a stress-related manufacturing process.

Just for experimentation, I’ve used a transparent plastic ruler.

Using the Rule — Using The Rule - Cross-polarisation, 1/10s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 218mm, CPL filter

The Parallel Project – Creative White Balance

On January 11, 2011January 17, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, The Parallel Project11 Comments

I’ve been considering a parallel project to this year’s 2011 Deck Project, but I am still not sure if I am going to go through with it. It was my thought to experiment with different techniques and use the results from those experiments to do the project.

In the event that I do go through with it, this would have been my first image for it 🙂

It uses the idea of using a “wrong” white balance for a scene, to give a different temperature impression, usually to give the “right” impression.

When I was at the wall the place was very cool, breeze blowing in off the ocean, and the rain clouds scattered across the sky, with some blue showing. The sun was beginning to set and was casting a few (not many) warm colours on the eastern clouds. To give the cooler impression the white balance was adjusted to give a cooler or “bluer” image. In the old days this was called “camera tricks”, but it gives the “feel” of the scenery and sometimes that is what is important 🙂