You Know You Need to Take a Class When….

you spend an hour attempting to duplicate a photo of straws, and fail miserably!

One of my favorite flickr contacts (highlighted a while back at Shrew’s place) is James Christie. (If you haven’t looked through his photostream yet, please do yourself a favor…be sure to grab a cup of coffee and a snack before you look, because you are bound to get lost in his beautiful works!) Last night he uploaded this photo of straws. I was fascinated with the play of the light through the straws, and since all was quiet in my house, decided to fetch a glassful and play. It was an exercise in frustration! Too much light, not enough light, too blurry, too far away, not far enough away, tippy tripod, overexposed, underexposed, and not nearly enough green. But, after 66 photos of straws, and my assistant Zan holding a flashlight under the glass in a dark room (thank you Honey!) I got something passable, although not nearly good enough to warrant a comparison to Mr. Christie’s.

I kinda like this one too.

Here are my ghost straws…

And one more…

Make that one + one more! 🙂

Who knew taking a photo of something so mundane and simple, could be so instructional?

I love flickr. And thank you Mr. Christie, for being an inspiration.

James Christie December 3, 2008 / 12:25 pm

I love the first one in order of appearance. You are too hard on yourself. That shot is superb, well done and I am honoured to be considered an inspiration.

Thanks

J

Scott Thomas December 3, 2008 / 2:09 pm

I like the second one the best. Very vivid colors which I’m a sucker for. I agree with Mr. Christie, you did yourself proud, KD!

thedailyclick December 3, 2008 / 5:22 pm

We’re supposed to pick a favorite? Hmm.. I can’t make up my mind between 1, and 4. Great lighting in these!
(Shhh… but I like the bright colors of yours better than all the green 😉 )

kanniduba December 3, 2008 / 9:06 pm

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments!

Yeah, Daily…gotta love a husband who will humor you and hold a flashlight under a glass full of straws in the dark just so you can satisfy your latest photography obsession! lol

ivoryhut December 5, 2008 / 7:45 am

Very cool! I especially love the fourth one.

Can I borrow Zan next time my photos need a bit of extra light? 🙂