Frozen bubbles have been all over Facebook recently and while i would love to always be original and interesting, its a freak'in cool idea. So i tried it!
I picked today, this morning, since it was 9 degrees when we woke up. I mixed up some dish soap and water, along with sugar (theoretically this helps the 'staying power' of bubbles) and headed outside. At first it didn't seem all that cold out, but as soon as i sat down to start blowing, along came a blustery wind. This is going to be interesting.
As we all know, bubbles and wind don't exactly mesh. And the bubbles didn't actually freeze as soon as i blew them (clearly chemistry was not my strong suit.) But i did manage to get a few and start a good practice session.
I realized quickly i would have to pull out the camera and shoot pretty fast. The bubbles did freeze relatively fast, but they also started breaking because of the wind. And, the 'sugar' mixture wasn't exactly doing a lot as far as helping the bubbles stay. Foiled. Back to the drawing board. Not to mention, my fingers were freezing.
And i had to get to work.
During lunch, i remembered my son had some bubbles from Gymboree that would last for hours. They were made with glycerin. So, i headed back outside with a bottle of Gymboree bubbles and new found hope! It was still cold a hell, but the new bubble solution worked well. As long as the wind was mild, the bubbles stuck around. I could still only manage to stay out for 15 minutes, but it was enough to get a flow going... blow bubbles, quickly put down the blower, snap a bunch of photos, blow more bubbles and so on.
The noonish photos were okay, but the mid-day light wasn't ideal, so i headed back in to do some work.
When evening rolled around, it looked to dark to do anything, so i headed out to pick my son up from daycare when i noticed the last of the days golden light hitting the railing on the front porch. I ran back in, grabbed my bubble mixture and the camera, and it was magic! I literally had 5 minutes before the sun was gone and was lucky enough to capture the series in the slide show above.
Obviously, as an artist, nothing is ever complete. I wish they were a bit more clear, but overall, i love how they came out. Nothing at all like the bubble images i've seen on FB... so i guess i do have something a little unique after all. fun!
Shot details:
[Lens] AF-S Micro 105mm, 2.8g ED,
[A] f/14
[S] 1/1250
[ISO] 1600
The camera was in A-P. I accidentally left the ISO high from shooting in the shade earlier in the day. It ended up working out because i could have the f-stop a little higher and still maintain a good shutter speed.
I picked today, this morning, since it was 9 degrees when we woke up. I mixed up some dish soap and water, along with sugar (theoretically this helps the 'staying power' of bubbles) and headed outside. At first it didn't seem all that cold out, but as soon as i sat down to start blowing, along came a blustery wind. This is going to be interesting.
As we all know, bubbles and wind don't exactly mesh. And the bubbles didn't actually freeze as soon as i blew them (clearly chemistry was not my strong suit.) But i did manage to get a few and start a good practice session.
I realized quickly i would have to pull out the camera and shoot pretty fast. The bubbles did freeze relatively fast, but they also started breaking because of the wind. And, the 'sugar' mixture wasn't exactly doing a lot as far as helping the bubbles stay. Foiled. Back to the drawing board. Not to mention, my fingers were freezing.
And i had to get to work.
During lunch, i remembered my son had some bubbles from Gymboree that would last for hours. They were made with glycerin. So, i headed back outside with a bottle of Gymboree bubbles and new found hope! It was still cold a hell, but the new bubble solution worked well. As long as the wind was mild, the bubbles stuck around. I could still only manage to stay out for 15 minutes, but it was enough to get a flow going... blow bubbles, quickly put down the blower, snap a bunch of photos, blow more bubbles and so on.
The noonish photos were okay, but the mid-day light wasn't ideal, so i headed back in to do some work.
When evening rolled around, it looked to dark to do anything, so i headed out to pick my son up from daycare when i noticed the last of the days golden light hitting the railing on the front porch. I ran back in, grabbed my bubble mixture and the camera, and it was magic! I literally had 5 minutes before the sun was gone and was lucky enough to capture the series in the slide show above.
Obviously, as an artist, nothing is ever complete. I wish they were a bit more clear, but overall, i love how they came out. Nothing at all like the bubble images i've seen on FB... so i guess i do have something a little unique after all. fun!
Shot details:
[Lens] AF-S Micro 105mm, 2.8g ED,
[A] f/14
[S] 1/1250
[ISO] 1600
The camera was in A-P. I accidentally left the ISO high from shooting in the shade earlier in the day. It ended up working out because i could have the f-stop a little higher and still maintain a good shutter speed.