Shattered Illusions

[Markvetnz]

This picture was created by freezing a whole Agapanthus bloom in liquid nitrogen and then dropping it onto a table which caused it to shatter like glass. I've been wanting to try this for a while. What you get is a bit of pot luck but I think it looks ok.

[PKFUSION]

I really like this! May have been better with a non blue top half to show off the flowers, but that may have ruined the effect too!

[Markvetnz]

The original background was white and it lacked a bit of oomph. I fiddled around with a few different colours but this seemed to work.

[mariaramil]

Mark, this pic looks lovely. I didn't read your comment immediately, just focused on the shapes and colours...
That got me thinking you'd taken your camera to the bottom of the ocean, how lucky to get such clear waters, where is the fish?
I think your pic would get some more Ooomph if we didn't know all the info until much later... create a bit of excitement and curiosity about it... (?)

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mark,

Is that a pic taken at point of dropping?
I guess it must be as there are things floating, leading to the underwater feel to it.

I really like, with colour and 'ooomphy' contrast (not all white mist as these shots often are).

Very good work,

[Andrew1]

Great shot. I don't know how some of you come with these creative ideas. I'm curious about how you got the pieces drifting to the left and the blue/tan colour split. I have to imagine flash and a preset manual focus was used but please let us know how you did this. Well done.

[Markvetnz]

The shot was set up on a normal shooting table. Lighting provided by 3 580exII speedlights off camera. 1 left and 2 right. Manual flash 1/16 power x 2 on rhs and 1/32 power on left. Used Canon 1d iv on high speed shutter with 7-200 mm F2.8 II lens. Manual focus. I forget exactly what the shutterspeed was. I think I shot at f22 to get a decent DOF. I marked the spot on the table where the flower had to be dropped. The bloom was immersed in liquid nitrogen for about 30 seconds and then dropped by my brother. The shot was taken as it hit the table and exploded. I cloned out the stem, sharpened and cropped in CS5, applied selective saturaton adjustments and then put a bicolour gradient filter over the top to get the colour in the background.

[Andrew1]

Thanks for the info and again, well done. I won't ask how many tries this took to get the right flash and results you wanted.

[JPS]

Mark,
great shot.

[Maritimer1]

That is one terrific photograph! I love that you did it in camera, pretty much, and were able to achieve such a surreal look.

[Colin Southern]

Great stuff Mark -- kinda reminds me of my SCUBA instructor days where we'd see underwater scenes like this as things got stirred up.

How does one lay one's hands on liquid nitrogen?

PS: Finally got my 600EX-RTs - they're a dream to work with! Still no ST-E3-RT or 1Dx though

[Markvetnz]

Great stuff Mark -- kinda reminds me of my SCUBA instructor days where we'd see underwater scenes like this as things got stirred up.

How does one lay one's hands on liquid nitrogen?

PS: Finally got my 600EX-RTs - they're a dream to work with! Still no ST-E3-RT or 1Dx though

I use liquid nitrogen all the time 4 freezing semen. Iget it from air liquide or boc. You need a special
Flask to store it in or it just boils away.

About time canon put rt in a flash. 1dx - what' that??

[Colin Southern]

I use liquid nitrogen all the time 4 freezing semen. Iget it from air liquide or boc. You need a special
Flask to store it in or it just boils away.

About time canon put rt in a flash. 1dx - what' that??

Thanks Mark,

Can anyone buy it? (appreciating from my Air Force days how dangerous it can be).

The 1Dx is a new camera Canon allege they're selling shortly, but I'm starting to wonder ...

It'll be good when it finally arrives as it integrates better with the 600EX-RTs (group mode, better HSS I suspect).

[Markvetnz]

Thanks Mark,

Can anyone buy it? (appreciating from my Air Force days how dangerous it can be).

The 1Dx is a new camera Canon allege they're selling shortly, but I'm starting to wonder ...

It'll be good when it finally arrives as it integrates better with the 600EX-RTs (group mode, better HSS I suspect).

Sorry about all the typos in my previous post. I was doing it from my mobile and I'm the world's worst texter.
They'll sell liquid nitrogen to anybody, as long as you have a suitable container. The canisters start at about $1000NZ. If you want to get hold of one, I have a perfectly good one I could sell you. I'd just have to confirm a price with my business partner but I'm sure it would be pretty cheap. Liquid Nitrogen costs about $5 a kilo. Remember all the dairy farmers use it to store semen too. If you filled up the tank I have in mind, it would take about 15 kilos and it should last about a month. It is only dangerous if you are stupid with it. Wear gloves and protective glasses and make sure the container can vent and the room is properly ventilated and you'll be fine.

I hope the 1DX comes out shortly. I sent Progear an email offering to pay a deposit and they didn't even bother replying. Go figure - maybe they have all the business they want.
You know what they say about any business - if it wasn't for the troublesome staff and all the pesky customers it would be a great business!!

I wonder if Canon finally brought out the RT feature because the Phottix product is so good and a lot more affordable than the PW's. Honestly, I haven't been able to trip mine up yet. The only gripe I hear is the lack of 1/3 stop increments in manual mode. It would be great not to have to attach the receivers every time, but I have too much money invested in them now to make a change. They also easily do what I need them to do.

Cheers

Mark

[Colin Southern]

Sorry about all the typos in my previous post. I was doing it from my mobile and I'm the world's worst texter.

Hi Mark, you do know that you can edit previous posts?

They'll sell liquid nitrogen to anybody, as long as you have a suitable container. The canisters start at about $1000NZ. If you want to get hold of one, I have a perfectly good one I could sell you. I'd just have to confirm a price with my business partner but I'm sure it would be pretty cheap. Liquid Nitrogen costs about $5 a kilo. Remember all the dairy farmers use it to store semen too. If you filled up the tank I have in mind, it would take about 15 kilos and it should last about a month. It is only dangerous if you are stupid with it. Wear gloves and protective glasses and make sure the container can vent and the room is properly ventilated and you'll be fine.

Thanks Mark - I'm tempted, but I think in my case it would only be something I'd "play" with for a few hours. I'll keep thinking about it if that's OK?

I hope the 1DX comes out shortly. I sent Progear an email offering to pay a deposit and they didn't even bother replying. Go figure - maybe they have all the business they want.
You know what they say about any business - if it wasn't for the troublesome staff and all the pesky customers it would be a great business!!

I know just what you mean, unfortunately. Very "hit and miss" with them - but on the flip side, they have pulled rabbits out of the hat for me on occasions. Mostly there's no problems getting the actual product once Canon NZ supply - it's just the lack of regular contact that frustrates.

I wonder if Canon finally brought out the RT feature because the Phottix product is so good and a lot more affordable than the PW's.

To be honest, I doubt it ... neither Phottix not Pocketwizard were competing products. I think you'll find the functionality goes beyond what either offer though.