Blooming
There was a set of images I've shot 2 weeks ago and I didn't post about in my previous blog post here. They are mainly some sort of a "cliché" since they are about flowers and roses but nevertheless, I did get some results and the images are already offered in the stock. The whole thing started when I noticed a new bouquet or bundle in the living room and the blooms looked fresh!
It was a call for a macro job from the beginning, and since I'm not trying to complicate things further (as it is a job done in a whim, or so I thought) I decided to use my old 100mm macro lens here. In such cliché "situations" I do believe that the major factor in making the shot different is playing with the light and its direction to make things different. However, in the beginning with Unbleak, I've used my Bolt LED Ringlight, which worked well here in defining the little bloom. Worth noting here that the shot(s) were all made using the Ringlight as continuous source of light and not as a flash. Thus, shutter speeds were relatively longer. Anyway, it didn't take me long to move to my lovely speedlite later. Despite the capability of Bolt LED Ringlight of being detached and working separately to change the light direction, but I didn't really bother in experimenting with that.
Now, despite the bulkiness of the speedlite, I did somehow feel free when using it (specially when working with the wireless function), adding to that, it does give more control over power (specially that it is connected to a power-pack). Maybe the downside of this is the bulkiness, beside not shaping the light like a ring (despite the modifiers available already). However, shots like Through Darkness and Morning Delight did surely make use of bouncing the light of the speedlite in various directions, as well as changing the power drastically and keeping the shutter speed fast. I did, however, use some Photoshop here to my advantage to dramatize the scene further with the darkness in somewhat semi-low-key appearance for the bloom.
Morning Delight, now, has a bit of story behind it. I've forgot to say here that I was shooting all these bloom-stuff with my converted camera (not sure why I did so), and to keep things as close to normal as possible, I did place my Kenko hot mirror on the lens to block the infrared and keep the visible light coming. Things worked fine, as can be seen in Through Darkness, with maybe a bit of twitching for the white balance while processing the RAW file. However, with Morning Delight, the image clearly off. I remember I had to even reduce the yellow/red tint off the image (but did not fix the white balance completely). This tint is usually produced when using the converted camera normally without any filter placed! Yet, I had the filter placed on the lens but still it happened! How? I don't know what I'm missing here. The white balance was always on auto. Worth noting also that both, Through Darkness and Morning Delight were rotated as I felt it composes the meaning better than leaving them horizontal (which is the original position in fact) like Unbleak.
Not long though when I got that itch to get back to my old macro habits, with a 50mm lens and some extension tubes (or reversing rings and all that). So, I got my 50mm and the three tubes and started to experiment with the roses in the bouquet this time (which were surrounded by the small tiny blooms). Among the many shots I've made with the speedlite (and changing its direction several times) two main shots that attracted me, namely which I've called later Twirling Beauty and Rosa Chiaroscura.
As for Twirling Beauty, I liked the sense of high-key, but that didn't stop me from enhancing the effect further in Photoshop and adding more softness to it. And as for Rosa Chiaroscura, I guess the look talks about itself. I'm not sure how the light stroke the rose but I'm thinking from top and a bit behind the petals. This is not the first time I shoot such a thing actually but this time it is more warm and soft (well, softness, as usual, was enhanced in Photoshop later on as well). The term Chiaroscura here is supposed the feminine form of Chiaroscuro in Italian (but pardon me, I don't speak Italian myself!). It is a term to note a play of contrast between highlights and shadows in one image or artwork.
Mother's Heart (2013)
This was the bulk of my work with some tiny blooms and roses, and despite being a quickie (in shooting that is), yet the results somehow brought me delight and beauty, even though I do still think they are a cliché. For this, I might as well advice the reader here (if s/he is a photographer): Do not hesitate in shooting any cliché and do not overthink it. Just shoot. Sometimes, the delight and relief comes from the work with the camera itself and not from the results after all. It is like a stress relief.
Finale
OK. I was going to make it longer by talking about other photos but I think this is enough for now, as I'm still having a poem to represent here. I talked in my last post here that I was trying to gather some words and organize them for a poem. I think I did it, but I'm not quite sure that it is a strong one. I did post it in some contest threads on Writing.com but yet the results would need weeks to be announced. Again, I'm not optimistic about it. I've called the new poem: For Kings.
For Kings
Silently, wipe away these drops,
down the hazel eyes, calmly,
for kings not to be seen weeping.
In weakness, a strength is blazing,
alike the shaking barley,
and time passes with its healing.
Lunatic, thy mind may it be,
no wonder, in solitude,
for kings, on the tops their seating.
In the meadows, what daisies fear?
but rains send their gratitude,
while their golden heart gone beating.
In heart, a world of passion sets,
even though the gloom abounds,
for kings, by hopes, are learning.
My child, none in you believes,
their loss, and my win astounds,
and pray that fates keep turning.
Theater is that we all to play,
and such are our velvet dreams,
for kings, in their dreams, believing.
Patience upon patience galore,
as thy heart gets tired of screams,
while the hazel beauties grieving.
Wipe away, my child, the damn drops,
those tears scream aloud in me,
for kings never to be seen crying.
Over, all should be and they must,
and that smile bounds back in glee,
to me, I, and my own sighing.
For kings, run the fortunes high,
and for kings, the highs and lows,
for kings are kings by their making.
A king you are despite the tears,
despite the winds, and their blows,
For kings, O child, must be shaking.
It's kind of hard to really spot what sparked these emotions while writing these lines, but probably they are condolences to my own self for my failures in life; Something which I think still going on. Anyway… on the technical side, the poem follows ABC-DBC rhyme with syllables count as 8,7,8-8,7,8. I was really thinking of separating each stanza of 6 lines into 3-3 lines but I changed my mind and kept it as it is. I think that would break, somehow, the general connection of ideas in a single stanza. After writing (typing) this poem, I did a little search online for such a rhyme scheme and I did find it mentioned in some websites but no specific name was given (one of the pages was talking about Black-related modern poetry I think). Anyhow, I think it somewhat brings me satisfaction that I didn't think of such weird rhyming scheme alone!
Now, my vacation is over and I'll be back to work by next Sunday. Back to the rush and the fuss on the roads (and the road rages too). All what I'm hoping for for now, is to keep working with the camera despite my mood swings and despite my tiresome body. I'm typing these words as I pray for a drop down in temperatures in the coming weeks. The humidity had been horrible; Almost drinking water from thin air. Meanwhile, I need to prepare to make a new post for my Arabic blog and I think I've found the proper topic for my next post. Thus, I need to get busy (or busier than before) as I'm going to need to work in my workplace with this and probably making new fresh shots at home for that specific post. And who knows, they might be useful to be posted here as well! Till then…
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