simple life

You and me,

Need a break.

JRN 420: Still Life

Smoke

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture 14

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture 14

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/160, Aperture 14

Smoke is very mysterious that you can hardly catch it or keep it although you can see it very often. It is concrete yet very abstract and its existence always gets neglected.

For this smoke series, I used a table light on the left and a strobe on the right. I used a table light because it allowed me to see the smoke in a completely dark situation. In my experiment on this shooting, the hardest part for me was to create the shape of the smoke that I wanted. Therefore, all I could do was to burn a paper stick and blew it slowly to make the smoke diffuse into a wider area. I also used a color gel to change the color of the smoke.

Water Drop

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture 18

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture 18

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture 18

Water has its own unique temper. It can be very calm yet gets excited with even a very tiny disturbance. You can’t stop it from waving when you try hard but it stops by itself when you put it aside.

Similar to the smoke series, I put a table light on the left and strobe on the right. I used a reflector clamp to hold a cup right on the top of my bowl. Water should be added little by little so that it did not come out too fast. The strobe did not point directly to the bowl but pointed to a piece of white paper that I used as the background. By using a color gel on the strobe, I made the water in a different color.

Cigarettes and Lighters

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/250, Aperture 20

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/250, Aperture 20

Lighters and cigarettes are a perfect match. They complement the existence of each other. Some people get addicted and can’t stop smoking even though they are aware and understand that smoking is harmful.

Other than creating the smoke and the water drops, I tried some photographs of solid subjects. During the period of World Cup 2010 in South Africa, a lighter of the England team was given out for every purchase of a certain amount of Carlsberg beer. I am very proud to own these lighters. So, lighters and cigarettes are really a good match to make a photograph.

Lighting Setup:

The Other Equipments

Whenever and wherever I go out, both glasses and mobile phone are two equipments that are always with me.