Hit and Miss 2020 Project Thread - Skitterbug aka Sandy

[skitterbug]

I'm sorry David! I totally missed your observation! I like the analogy you made for the cathedrals and the chocolate. Thanks for making me use my imagination to visualize a chocolate cathedral in pieces! LOL. Seriously, I appreciate your comment.

[skitterbug]

We have had some mild days, until this week. Winter is back again. But I took an afternoon to try out a gift that my daughter gave me, to see if I could make heads or tails out of it. I finally have this one to post so I can ask for guidance about using a lens ball. It probably isn't anything that I will go overboard with but it may be fun to try it out during the warmer months.

So please offer suggestions and comments! Maybe what lens would be best to use for capturing an image using the ball? Ideas always appreciated!

Lens Ball attempt! Settings used with a 100mm lens - F22, 1/200ss , ISO9870 set on AUTO

[Shadowman]

Post 22, our mild days still came in the form of temperatures between 14-25F, a small blast of snow with rain expected early next week.

With your nice gift any lens will do, however I think you might get some interesting formations if you also tried an UWA lens with the orb. Also, try different light sources beaming behind and/or through the sphere. I would also have one of your family members peer through the orb for some interesting portraits. Nice capture.

[Antonio Correia]

Sandy, the image produced by the glass ball is amazing !
Perhaps you can try to make a hole series of photographs seen through it, in square format for example.
I have at home a glass ball like this but it is blue with air bubbles inside. I will have a try to do something with it later on but now, it's your turn.
In fact, it is you who is making me go and do my own series with the glass blue ball... Thank you !
Hope to see more images with this piece of glass.

[Wavelength]

That spherical ens can be really fun to play with; i was imagining Taj Mahal through that

[xpatUSA]

So please offer suggestions and comments! Maybe what lens would be best to use for capturing an image using the ball? Ideas always appreciated!

Lens Ball attempt! Settings used with a 100mm lens - F22, 1/200ss , ISO9870 set on AUTO

That's quite a shot! I found the settings quite intriguing, Sandy, especially the f/22 (possible diffraction blur?) and (for a Sigma shooter) the outrageous ISO value ...

[Geoff F]

I wonder if you could invert the ball image? I suspect the possible uses would be increased that way.

[Antonio Correia]

I wonder if you could invert the ball image? I suspect the possible uses would be increased that way.

You mean rotate, Geoff ?

[xpatUSA]

I wonder if you could invert the ball image? I suspect the possible uses would be increased that way.

+1 Good point.

[xpatUSA]

You mean rotate, Geoff ?

He means to turn the image up-side-down. A correct usage in English English. Similar to "flying inverted" ...

[skitterbug]

Post 22, our mild days still came in the form of temperatures between 14-25F, a small blast of snow with rain expected early next week.

With your nice gift any lens will do, however I think you might get some interesting formations if you also tried an UWA lens with the orb. Also, try different light sources beaming behind and/or through the sphere. I would also have one of your family members peer through the orb for some interesting portraits. Nice capture.

Hi John - I haven't used the Tokina lens much but the ideas you've suggested sound interesting.

So just thinking about the project, I came up with the following notions. In my posted pic, I was trying to avoid any bright light coming through the lens because I figured it wouldn't meet criteria of good photography. However, one idea I did have was trying to capture a sunset using it - if I can find a good resting place for the lens. Sitting it on a tripod takes away from the lens because of the obvious place it is resting isn't natural. So lots to think about when trying to use this by myself. If I can find a willing subject, then it becomes easier perhaps because the subject could hold the lens for me..... during portrait experiments or landscapes even.

Thanks! I appreciate your comments!

[Shadowman]

Hi John - I haven't used the Tokina lens much but the ideas you've suggested sound interesting.

So just thinking about the project, I came up with the following notions. In my posted pic, I was trying to avoid any bright light coming through the lens because I figured it wouldn't meet criteria of good photography. However, one idea I did have was trying to capture a sunset using it - if I can find a good resting place for the lens. Sitting it on a tripod takes away from the lens because of the obvious place it is resting isn't natural. So lots to think about when trying to use this by myself. If I can find a willing subject, then it becomes easier perhaps because the subject could hold the lens for me..... during portrait experiments or landscapes even.

Thanks! I appreciate your comments!

Hi Sandy,

You could perhaps use some putty or other less noticeable substance to secure the orb, perhaps a clear jar might do as well.

[skitterbug]

Sandy, the image produced by the glass ball is amazing !
Perhaps you can try to make a hole series of photographs seen through it, in square format for example.
I have at home a glass ball like this but it is blue with air bubbles inside. I will have a try to do something with it later on but now, it's your turn.
In fact, it is you who is making me go and do my own series with the glass blue ball... Thank you !
Hope to see more images with this piece of glass.

Hi Antonio - I hope to try and capture more but as you know, the rubbish can sometimes overflow with discards!
I appreciate your comments and I'm glad you like my first effort!

I'll be very interested to see your work and the series of images you post using your glass blue ball! The bubbles will give your images a very interesting look, I think. And I'm glad to have given you an idea for a project!

[skitterbug]

That spherical ens can be really fun to play with; i was imagining Taj Mahal through that

Hi Kandakumar - I think seeing the Taj Mahal through it would be magnificent. Bet there are probably images "out there" of just that if the WEB is searched. However, if the image was in my possession then it would mean that I had been there in person and that would be a treat indeed!
Thanks for commenting!

[skitterbug]

I wonder if you could invert the ball image? I suspect the possible uses would be increased that way.

It is easy to rotate an image but if you mean just to rotate the ball within the image, I'd find that a bit tougher to accomplish and make it look natural. I'm not especially handy at "selecting and area", flipping it or rotating it and then placing it without blemishes.

Another thought maybe, going in the direction of rotation, perhaps two photos could be taken, one with the lens and the next without the lens. Then rotating the lens ball photo, layering it over the other image..... hummmm .... would that work???

[skitterbug]

Hi Sandy,

You could perhaps use some putty or other less noticeable substance to secure the orb, perhaps a clear jar might do as well.

Hi John - The putty might work if it doesn't show too much in the image. I have a feeling the glass jar may make it complicated for me! <chuckle> But it may be worth thinking about in some circumstances.
Thanks!

[skitterbug]

That's quite a shot! I found the settings quite intriguing, Sandy, especially the f/22 (possible diffraction blur?) and (for a Sigma shooter) the outrageous ISO value ...

I chose the f/22 because I wanted to have as much of the image as clear and sharp as possible. Speed was chosen since it was a bit windy that day.

I went back to my original RAW photo and note that the ISO listed on that data is actually 10,000. I'm not sure why the info is listed on the edited photo is different?

I figure the camera chose a higher ISO than is normal was because I was in the shade and it was not very sunny that day. I could have used a f/11 or maybe even more open, and a slower speed but I wanted to try and get as sharp a pic as I could. Does what I did make sense?

+1 Good point.

Hi Ted - thanks for looking at my image and commenting!

[xpatUSA]

I chose the f/22 because I wanted to have as much of the image as clear and sharp as possible. Speed was chosen since it was a bit windy that day.

Thanks, I understand the reasoning. Often, in lens reviews, it will say "diffraction sets in" after some f-number. That number depends greatly on the combination of a camera and lens but normally ranges between about f/8 and maybe f/11. I've never seen f/22 mentioned in that context.

So, no matter how well you hold and focus the camera, the image will be slightly blurred. Probably not noticeable at a glance, especially if downsized for posting here. But, for a pedant like me who views sharp edges at 800% zoom, it is easily seen.

I went back to my original RAW photo and note that the ISO listed on that data is actually 10,000. I'm not sure why the info listed on the edited photo is different?

Camera settings that are calculated in-camera often do not match nominal settings. For example, if I set f/8 in aperture priority and shoot in auto-exposure, the camera's calculated shutter time will not be one of the nominal values unless by co-incidence. But, the camera LCD will nevertheless display the nearest nominal setting e.g. 1/50, not say 0.0183 (mustn't confuse the punters, eh?).

[xpatUSA]

It is easy to rotate an image but if you mean just to rotate the ball within the image, I'd find that a bit tougher to accomplish and make it look natural. I'm not especially handy at "selecting and area", flipping it or rotating it and then placing it without blemishes.

In the GIMP you can make a round selection, then move it anywhere within an image. Then you can rotate the image and delete the background, voila:



Background is black because GIMP saves deleted stuff as 'transparent'.

No magic/fancy selection, no brushing, no layers, no feathering, took about 5 mins because I've never done it before ...

Very tempting to shoot stuff like you did, or in wing mirrors or to just select something other than a rectangle or square and then post like the above.

Others can advise you how this might be done in your particular editor.

[skitterbug]

In the GIMP you can make a round selection, then move it anywhere within an image. Then you can rotate the image and delete the background, voila:



Background is black because GIMP saves deleted stuff as 'transparent'.

No magic/fancy selection, no brushing, no layers, no feathering, took about 5 mins because I've never done it before ...

Very tempting to shoot stuff like you did, or in wing mirrors or to just select something other than a rectangle or square and then post like the above.

Others can advise you how this might be done in your particular editor.

Hi Ted - Thank you for your clarifying reply in post #38 about setting differentials.

Your post (quoted above) about how easy it is to edit the image using GIMP, stirs my curiosity about the program. I will take another look at it and see if I can also use it as easily as you say it is to use! I can sometimes take the simplest thing, turn into a very complicated mess! <LOL>

I always appreciate your comments! Thanks!