Photo Experimenting 2: Playing with Water, oil, bubbles

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Helen C

Kelly at “Shutterbug Diary” commented on my Photo Experimenting 1, giving me a link to a different video saying I might find it interesting. She was right. (Thanks, Kelly.)

Video 1: Oil+Water+Soap (Add soap will make it easier, it said at one point.)

(It took me many tries, I have to tell you.)

My experience:

1. When I watched the video, I didn’t realize how small those bubbles were. I was shock when I saw the real thing. 😉

2. The direction of the light is more crucial than I thought. After failing for several times, I finally changed where I placed the flashlight, and that did the trick. For me, anyway.

3. I tried to manually combine several small bubbles into a bigger one, and wasn’t very successful. My guess is that I might add a little too much of the soap.

4. The color was a nice surprise. I had an orange color place-mat under the glass.

5. I did darken the left top corner to erase the company name for the glassware.

Video 2: Oil+water

After watching one video, you will start seeing similar videos popping up. The difference between this one and the previous one is that it doesn’t add soap.

My experience:

1. It’s easier this time since I kind of know where the flash light should be.

2. This, actually, is the result I had expected from previous experience.

3. Again, I used a household flashlight… because I was lazy.

Video 3: Rain-X and water

This is another video that popped up on my pc. Mark Wallace, actually, is the first photographer whose video I subscribed. His teaching style is straight-to-the-point, which I appreciate a lot. In this case, I would recommend to click the photo to see a bigger version of it.

My experience:

1. I had a hard time to get this work. I, actually, went back to watch his video again. F22, he said.

2. After I switched to speed-light, not using my trustful flashlight, I finally made some progress.

3. Rain-x makes it easier to hand shape water droplets.

Video 4: Frozen Bubbles (water, corn syrup, sugar, dish soap)

After having a few extreme cold days, frozen-bubbles videos started popping up. I thought to myself: I can’t change the weather; I may as well take advantage of it. While waiting for a warmer day to go to a store to get corn syrup, I saw Kelly post a photo of a frozen bubble, which I liked a lot.

It should look better, I thought. My heart wanted to keep trying, but my hands wanted to quit. My husband said, “Why don’t you do it in the garage?”

My experience:

1. Straw worked better.

2. Even a tiny wind could break those bubbles. I thought it was a pretty calm day, but, still, I had to move to a corner of the house to block almost-not-there wind.

3. Garage worked (no wind), but since it’s warmer, it took longer.

4. It still can be better; Winter is not over yet 😉

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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XDrive Photo Lesson 18 – Golden Hour (Again)

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Helen C

This is my second submission for XDrive Photo Lesson 18 – Golden Hour.

We had many cloudy days recently, but once in a while we did see a clear sky. It was too cold to go out, so I took these photos from inside of the house. I didn’t make too many changes in post-processing. They were beautiful (the light) as they were. I want to share them with you, because I believe that beautiful things (or light) are meant to be shared.

This maple leaf is probably 10 year old. It has lost all its color, but came alive during the golden hour.

My neighbor’s willow tree looked prettier than other time, too.

This is another tree that I often stare at. I haven’t figured out why I like it as much as I do. Because of the direction of the light, there is no shadow of the tree trunk or all branches. Is that something to watch out for? (Wish I could position the sun…)

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – Jan. 7, 2018

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Helen C

I am happy to see that Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge is back. (Thank you, Cee.)

Here is my submission.

You probably wonder why I took this photo. Well, I finally figured out when to use iPhone camera to shoot and when DSLR, so I decided to make a photo to celebrate. 😉

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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XDrive Photo Lesson 18 – Golden Hour

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Helen C

This is my submission for XDrive Photo Lesson 18 – Golden Hour.

Do you know there is a Golden-Hour web site (smartphone app, too), which tells you your local Golden-Hour time? Check it out here.

Of course, time is only one element in the equation. Some days we have great golden hour; some days so-so; and cloudy days it’s simply not there. This week (since Raj posted the lesson) started with several very cold days, followed by some cloudy days. Just as I was going to dig out some old photos, it got warmer 😉

Let me start with one of my favorite golden hour photos… just because I found it.

(F7.1, 1/200 Sec., ISO-100, FL 32mm)

Yesterday’s golden-hour was okay.

(F11, 1/160 Sec., ISO-200, FL 34mm. Can you feel the cold air?)

We had a cloudy morning today, but to my surprise the sun came out for a short while. I knew I wouldn’t have enough time driving to any place.

(F11, 1/30 Sec., ISO-200, 34 mm – F11 is probably not a good choice. I didn’t think ;-( Yes, I shouldn’t rush even though the sun was about to move behind clouds…)

When I did a photo session with Molly, it was during the golden hour.

(F/4, 1/20 Sec., ISO 100, FL 38 mm. My camera was set to f/4 most of the time in that day, if not all. This is a good example of why we should check the exposure frequently while shooting in golden hour. With the same setting – f/4 and ISO-100, a few minutes earlier it only took 1/250 sec. I was lucky on this one.)

I love golden hour. It has the magic transforming an ordinary scene to a special one.

(F/11, 1/200 Sec., ISO-200, FL 62 mm)

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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Photo Experimenting 1: Playing with Water

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Helen C

I like watching videos on different subjects of photographing. The other day the video “I Photographed Boiling Water” showed up on my YouTube home page. It is a short one, so I watched it right away.

But, I don’t have a see-through kettle like the one showed in the video, and I don’t want to do a complicated experiment. I remember taking photos of bubbles in a cup that was placed under running water, and decided to give that another try. For these photos I used: a red vase, a blue wine glass, and a small flash light. I placed the vase and wine glass in the sink, under running water.

Slowing down the water flow, I don’t see bubbles, but …

Next, pointing a small flash light at the red vase… (What I saw surprised me, even though I wasn’t crazy with the photo 😉

Blue wine glass with water drops all over…

Finally, if you google “Frozen Bubbles”, you will see many interesting photos. I tried it yesterday, and only managed to produce a tiny bubble. It was too cold to stay outside… probably next time. Since I had the mixture ready (7 oz warm water, 1.2 oz dish soap, 1.2 oz white corn syrup, and 2 table spoons sugar), I thought I would take a couple photos indoor.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Helen C

What? 2018 is already here? But, I am not ready for it yet!

I wish you all a Healthy and Happy 2018!

Christmas was nice. For those who remember that I was planning to write a letter to my daughter once a week in 2017 – well, I failed terribly. One of the reasons was that it was difficult to write, blog with the same material (which was my original plan), and, at the same time, to maintain a certain degree of privacy. But I did manage to produce around 15 and gave them to my daughter as one of her Christmas gifts.

To be honest, I had given up guessing what young people may think or feel. I honestly had no idea how she would react. I’d prepared for the worst – if she showed any sign of confusion, I would quickly add, “You don’t have to read them now. You can read them later… much later.”

With a slightly choked voice, she said, “Oh, Mom, this is the best Christmas gift!”

My eyes became wet instantly. Those words meant so much to me. It was one of my happiest moments! And you know what? I think those letters brought us even closer. 😉

In spite of how unready I was for 2018, yesterday, the New Year Day, I felt extremely peaceful. Some new goals came to my mind and I like having goals. Let me give you one example – I will do more photographing experiments this year. After watching a tutorial video, I will shoot some photos based on what I see in the video. It may or may not be the same idea as what is on the video, but it will be somewhat related 😉 That will be fun, won’t it?

Thanks for visiting my blog. I have a feeling that we will have a wonderful 2018! I am ready now!

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XDrive Photo Lesson 17 – Rim Light

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Helen C

This is my submission for XDrive Photo Lesson 17 – Rim Light.

I was going to say this was the most difficult lesson for me. Then I remember feeling the same way with a couple of previous lessons. I think the difference is that in previous lessons, after I studied the subject, the real shooting time was a half day at the most. But this time it took 3 days and several tries on each day. (So glad we have two weeks to work on this!)

Again, After reading Raj’s lesson, I read more articles and watched some videos of the subject. Most of them, if not all, said rim light effect is EASY to achieve even for the beginners. Eliminating the guy who had fancy lighting equipment, and the guy who did outstanding post processing work, there were still a couple doable ones — that was what I thought.

Well, I carefully followed their steps, but my photos didn’t look like theirs at all. So, for 3 days, I tried to move the light forward and backward, left and right, turn the light toward the front and back, up and down… I am sure you get the picture.

Anyway, here is the first photo.

I took several photos of this glass. Like I said, it didn’t look as good as the one showed in the article. I was ready to give up, but I thought I should at least check it out in PS. It turned out that all I had to do was to make the black darker. Wow. The result surprised me. In a good way, I mean.

I took a photo of a wine bottle, which I would not post it here. I don’t understand why we have to work so hard to get our subject in focus, and yet dusts always have their own way to steal the spotlight.

Next is… well, another bottle with natural light. It does have the rim light, I think. I hope, anyway.

Then, I thought of the fireplace. It would be a good background, wouldn’t it? Let me tell you, it was very difficult to ask those bears to sit still. Not to mention the flashlight kept falling off from the box…

Finally… I hate selfies… but DIY is always easier. So, the last photo is a photo of me. I took this photo with a timer set with 2 seconds delay, so I could have enough time to run to the spot. This, again, took many tries, moving the light here and there… thinking… moving lights again… After taking so many selfies, I think I know exactly where each wrinkle is!

Thanks to Raj for another wonderful lesson. I also want to mention that my friend Amy at The World Is A Book… has an excellent post for this lesson. You may like to take a look. 😉

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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To Lois

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Helen C

A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.
— Jim Morrison

Dear Lois,

Happy Birthday! (This is the Monday, isn’t it? 😉

Picture this… we are sitting by the ocean drinking wine, hearing pelicans singing “Happy Birthday” – one, apparently, sings louder than the others (one off-key?) Look, they brought fishes to the party! Lots of fishes. Hmm, I wonder which fish man they stole those fishes from.

The sun is setting. The sky and water are turning orange, yellow, and red. I sit there thinking if you know that you have made this world more beautiful for many of us. Your sense of humor… I start laughing. I laugh so hard that some pelicans fly away.

I remember the first time I read that you started a Toastmaster club in a prison. I was happy for club members because I believe it would improve their communication skills and help them deal with problems in future. But, at the same time, I couldn’t help worrying about your safety. The trust you had built between you and them was amazing. I learned I should never give up on anyone. (Even though I had applauded you until my hands were red, I still couldn’t build up enough courage to do what you have done!)

Then, you shared your bad news and later some good news with us. Throughout the time, you were stronger than most of us. Even when you didn’t feel well, you continued commenting, sending us warm feedback, as much as you could.

So, I’d like to make a toast… thank you for all the things you have taught me (by acting more than talking), for making me laugh, and for allowing me to be me. I press my hands together; I am grateful to have a friend like you.

Pelicans are dancing… or it’s me having too much drink… 😉

Happy Birthday, Lois!

Helen

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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Observe Merit and Appreciate Kindness (NaBloPoMo Day 30)

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Helen C

Observe merit and appreciate kindness (觀功念恩) is one thing I learned from the LamRim class (Tibetan: “stages of the path”.)

I made my first trip back to Taiwan in 2002 — 29 years after I came to America. Before I went, I contacted two high school friends, Kay and Judy. To my surprise, even though we hadn’t communicated for so many years, we had no problem to reconnect. After that first trip, I went back almost every year. Every time I was there, three of us would take a 2 or 3-day trip together.

Kay is a successful business woman, who started her own company many years ago. She has a big, soft heart, but she often acts and talks like an impatient boss. Although I had never owed a company, I had spent many years working for corporations, and I am somewhat Americanized. 😉 So even though I have no problem following someone’s lead, I do know my right and I’m not afraid of speaking up. Judy has been a housewife for all these years. She gets angry when being pushed, but no matter how angry she is, she keeps her anger deep inside.

One night, during an election season, we went to a park. Two guys stood in front of the gate passing political fliers. Walking in front of me, Kay accepted a flier and thanked the guy. I quickly stepped to the side to avoid getting one. Kay stopped and turned to me. “You should take a flier! Do you know those guys can’t go home until all the fliers are gone? If everyone is like you, they will have to stand there until midnight!”

I was surprised at her loud voice. Calmly, I said, “I don’t have right to vote. Why do I want to take a flier?”

Kay started lecturing me, telling me that it didn’t matter if I could vote or not, I should have some sympathies toward those workers.

Judy tried to distract us, but Kay wouldn’t stop. Finally, I raised my voice, too. I said, “If I take a flier, I am wasting their printing money and we are killing a part of tree for absolutely nothing!”

Kay finally quieted down.

I wasn’t upset that night. Frankly, I didn’t give a lot of thought on what had happened. In a way, the whole incident wasn’t important enough for me.

That was many years ago, long before I started my LamRim class. A couple of years ago, again, three of us took a trip together. We arrived at the hotel late. Everyone was tired and hungry. Kay pointed at a small table in our hotel room and said to me, “Why don’t you put your suitcase on top of that, so you don’t have to bend over. It’s better for your back.”

I said, “How about you and Judy?”

“You are the only one who has back problem,” she said.

So, I did. A minute later (yes, only a minute!), Kay shouted, “Why are you putting your suitcase there? Where am I going to put mine?”

What’s her problem? It was just a minute ago she told me to place my suitcase there! I could feel blood rushing to my head. Just as I was going to shout back, I remembered “observe merit and appreciate kindness” (觀功念恩), which I’d learned in my LamRim class before my trip. For a short while, time stood still. In my mind, I went through everything Kay had done for this trip: she researched the town we were going, finding out where to go sightseeing and which restaurants we should eat at; she worked with a traveling company to arrange our transportation and hotel, and she handled our money. My anger went away; I felt grateful for all the works Kay had done. Without saying a word, I moved my suitcase to a different spot.

The leader of my Lamrim class said during one of our classes, “Our feeling is deceivable!” (Not sure I translate it correctly.) Following a link at Yvette’s Group Therapy (Friday Fictioneers) And thoughts on stealing, eventually I found the Court Case web page and in it, it says “Don’t believe everything you think!”

Now you’ve heard the whole story 😉

Thank you for visiting my blog. (Aren’t you happy this is the end of NaBloPoMo? 😉

Posted in Memoir, photo, Writing | Tagged | 13 Comments

Aging (NabloPoMo Day 29)

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Helen C

I am kind of lazy today, so I decided to rewrite something I found in my old journals. This was supposed to be a quick and easy task, but it ended up taking a lot of time, because I just couldn’t stop reading them. Anyway, I wrote the following letter to my friend J on Oct. 2002. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I do.

* * *
Dear J,
You said, “I’m less happy than I think I should be. Is this part of getting older or something else?”

Do you know this was the first time you asked me a question? And, I do think I am qualified to give you an answer. After all, I am much older.

So, let’s talk about aging. My biggest complain about getting old is the decline of my health. My knees, back, teeth… none of them are as strong as before. I don’t run as fast and I often forget things.

But, I am more content and I am happier. I don’t irritate myself by setting impossible goals. I know my limitations well, and I am okay with having them. I accept who I am. If you can keep a secret… I really love who I am.

Freedom is another good thing that comes with aging. I don’t worry too much about what other people think. I’ve learned how different each of us can be, so I don’t get upset when someone does things differently or say things I wouldn’t say.

Being less happy because you are getting older? Not possible! Maybe you are burning out. Try to take a break from what you are doing. If you can’t take a break, at least pour yourself a glass of red wine or something.

If everything fails, count how many years you have left in this life. Can you really afford time to be less happy?

Helen
* * *
Hmm…I was wise at one point of my life 😉

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, Writing | Tagged | 27 Comments