One of the local based Flickr Photography groups I belong to has a contest this month – the theme Purple. Now that sounds easy at first really. Duh, take a picture of something purple. First off I came to realize that there really are not that many natural occurring color purple subjects. There are the obvious flowers, birds, and rainbows but really when you really think about it around Sacramento there are not that many.
Of course there are houses, cars, fences, neon lights, the list goes on – of painted subjects. I finally decided that a group of wildflowers I had seen might be my subject. Somehow it seemed too easy, too obvious. I decided to try taking shots of a blacklight bulb with the macro lens. I then heard on the grapevine that someone else was going to shoot neon bulbs – so that idea apparently was not very original or ground breaking LOL. Someone else has already posted a nice purple flower so . … emmmm.
This led to reading up on the color purple. I knew that when you mix red and blue you get purple but I really had know idea how many variations by definition there were of “purple”. So, a decided to go with the scientific approach and define purple as the middle – right were blue and red meet. It is really amazing that two opposite colors in the spectrum can make such a beautiful color – the color purple.
So I started my quest for an idea by taking out my sb200 speedlights and putting blue and red gels on them. I took the lights and camera to my high tech photo booth – know as my white bath tub with white tile surrounding it – :). I played a bit and ended up with a photo with red on the left, blue on the right, and yes, purple in the middle. You might say O how exciting with a bored tone in your voice but really, it takes a bit of arranging to get it. I then moved outside and took a few quick pictures without tripod of the Harley. Umm, the lights outside interfered with it but I did get some purple effect.
I took of few different shots and it became obvious that with the two small lights it would be real hard to shoot the whole bike at once without having reflection problems. Short of riding out into the country on a dark night.
Moving along, tonight I decided to try and get the red and blue to merge on a circle. I took off my towel holder and went about moving the little speedlights around trying to get the purple merge in the center of the ring. I thought the idea of two opposites meeting in a circle was an interesting interpretation – they came full circle, the circle has no end, that kind of thing.
If nothing else I am having fun with this and learning a lot about lighting.
All ideas for a purple photo idea are welcome!
Very, very cool. My speedlight is somewhere in Portland, the victim of packing too quickly and leaving it behind.
Have I mentioned that purple is my most favorite color? I love purple. Iris, plums, hydrangea…all purple. Eggplant too.
I suggest none of those, because these two photos show your own purple vision, which I like a lot!
Purple is my favorite color. Did I already say that? 😉
LOL I believe that you might like purple hee hee. I am still seeking new visions LOL
I would be much more successful I think if I had a SB600 or SB800. right now I have two small sb200’s and the SU800 commander. A brighter larger flash would be spiffy! the onboard flash will not make it past my lenses.
Eggplant is a thought I had but the lack of an actual eggplant kind of stifled that idea. Catfish did not like the idea I had last night of turning him purple – I just do not understand his reluctance?
I had an SB800. I still can’t believe it got left behind…I was always utterly anal about it. But I can almost visualize how it happened — trying to get out of the room, being distracted..I can see it on the bed. When I realized it was missing I”d been home a couple of weeks, and the hotel didn’t have anything like it in their lost and found. (big surprise there).
If I were Catfish I think I’d love purple. I’d try that sale one more time. 🙂
I will try and make a case for being turned purple but Catfish does not like the flash. Annie on the other hand is a camera ham – she is always downstairs asleep when I get going on a late night purple fest.