Wow. Lot’s of pollen around here at this time of year. And most of that’s stuck in nose. Good times. Kleenex, anyone?
*This just in* Mr. Paul Johnson has kindly featured my Houdini piece on his hilarious super-blog, The Good Greatsby. If you’ve not yet visited Mr. J, please head on over and check out his antics… you’ll thank me for it!
About this image: Kodak 35mm High Speed Infrared film scan – lightly modified
Refrigerator Magnate 
This is lovely! Where did you take it?
Thank you very much, J.G. –
this is the Chinese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden in Saint Louis… it’s a pretty cool place.
🙂
now my nose is running
Good times, right?!
🙂
Your artwork always appeals to me. Beautiful
Thank you so much for the kind words, Cecelia… I appreciate that very much!
🙂
I know I bandy about the world ‘beautiful’ a lot here Inky – but THAT is truly beautiful. There’s a Japanese house Fairmount Park in Philadelphia – this photo reminds me of it.
Thank you very much, Dishy – that is very kind of you!
There is a Japanese Garden here, too – but unfortunately the I.R. shots I took there didn’t turn out quite as well as I’d hoped.
🙂
Oh, that’s beautiful. And sweetly surreal. Yummy.
Thank you very much, S.E. –
infrared can do some kinda’ cool stuff, I think. 🙂
I love how the I.R. makes the vegetation glow. Lovely indeed! Want to go to MoBot this Monday (weather permitting of course)?
Thanks, Annabelle…
I’m not completely opposed to that idea.
🙂
This has a very romantic feel to the picture, a very different side of you!
Thank you, sir!
I wish I could shoot more infrared… unfortunately I don’t have any b/w film chemistry at the moment, but maybe some day! 🙂
Was it foggy or is that just how the infrared made it look. I adore Chinese/Japanese style gardens. Asian people sure have a special touch to their garden design
It was a fairly bright day, so any effect would be from the film itself and/or the dark red filter I used to enhance it.
I agree, Tony – these gardens are so elegant – I really enjoy them! 🙂
Nice, the IR is a cool effect. It reminds me I have yard work…so thanks for that. 😉
Hahaha…
well, you know.. I do what I can. Good luck to you, sir!
🙂
Whoops, just sneezed all over it 🙂 Very tranquil.
As tranquil as a nasal nightmare can be! 🙂
Oooh, now if you just added the previous photo to this scene. Talk about juxtaposing 🙂
Hahaha…
yeah, I figured this one might cushion the blow a little bit. 🙂
I could cut the tranquility with a knife OR broken bottle 🙂
Hahaha…
I thought it was a glass, er a gas.
🙂
Great picture. The last time I saw garden this nice it had two girls fighting with swords in it. (kill bill v1)
Hahaha…
Yeah, I had to crop them out of the shot.
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The IR gives a nice surreal quality to it.
Thanks, Binky – I kinda’ thought so, too! 🙂
Oh lovely. I really like this one a lot
That is very nice to hear, N.M. – thank you! 🙂
Sorry…I have been on a hiatus of sorts and haven’t been by…you have been busy! I like the Chinese Garden piece and I’ll be sure to visit Mr. Houdini’s blog. I wish you good luck on your Elvis entries for the contest…I tried to vote but I don’t have FB. If there’s another way to vote let me know. 🙂
Not at all – I know how that goes! Thank you very much for the kind words… it seems a bit strange the contest voting was set up that way, but it’s the thought that counts, so thank you again! I really appreciate that, Mary! 🙂
Great picture. I’ve seen more than a few Chinese gardens in my day, and I like this different approach.
Thank you very much, G.G. –
I thought it was kinda cool…
🙂
What is this infrared film you speak of, and what’s the draw of it? Even without the infraredness, I’m just impressed that it’s real film. My boyfriend and I were talking this morning about those 80s-era cameras that were long, thin, rectangular, and usually obnoxiously brightly colored. If I wasn’t so addicted to taking a thousand photos of the same thing, I’d go back to film just to have one of those again.
I can’t quite tell if you were using your ‘sarcastic font’ there or not, so please bear with me…
I.R. film is very sensitive to certain wavelengths of light, so it produces unusual effects such as white or very light looking foliage (plants almost look as if they are covered in snow). Sorry, you probably knew all that… I just get excited about this stuff, and then I can’t help but ramble-on about it.
🙂
Always fancied trying infrared myself, but no matter how hard I try I simply cannot get the damn film to wind on properly in my DLSR !!!.. Guess I’ll make do checking yours out instead.. Great shot btw.. 😀
HAHAHA!
I hear you! I have a similar problem… once I get the back taken off mine I can never seem to get everything put back together properly!
Thank you very much, sir! 🙂
Amazing shot… Looks like a japanese photographer’s work. Low contrast and lots of grain for texture with a sepia touch. Very romantic.
Thank you very much, sir – that is very kind of you to say! I was fairly happy with how this one turned out.
🙂
How many years have you been shooting things? Since moving to Europe I am trying to get into photography. Any pointers?
For about7 years(I’m still working on it).
These are some the same tired tips you’ve probably heard a million times. I try remind myself to:
1) Get closer – don’t be afraid to fill the frame
2) Try new/unusual vantage points – crouch down, stand on something, tilt the camera off ‘level’, etc.
3) Rule of thirds – mentally divide your image into thirds and place major focal points there
4) Take it off ‘auto’ – experiment with creative controls, play with depth of field, etc.
5) Take lots of photos – I’ll fill my memory card and sometimes wind up with only one or two shots I really like (but it’s worth it for those 2).
6) Try ‘framing’ images with trees, windows, etc.
7) Look at other photos you like – I spend hours at a time looking at other people’s work.
8) Have fun! – If it ‘ain’t fun… what’s the point, right?
If you ever have specific questions I’ll be happy to try and help whenever I can!
Awesome tips. You should really put that into a post. 🙂
Hmmm…
*scratching chin*
I’ll have to consider that. Thanks, Mel!
🙂
beautiful shot.
Thank you so much, U.M. –
that is very kind of you! 🙂
excellent IR shot. IR seems to transport the shot to a different place, an ethereal place. Thanks!
Thanks very much, Stuart!
I agree… it has a very unique feel to it! Thank you for stopping by, sir! 🙂
Very dreamy… the softness… I like!
Why, thank you, Malin! The infrared film was a lot of fun to experiment with. I think I maybe only shot 2 or 3 rolls… and it was a bit of a challenge because you were supposed to load the camera etc. in complete darkness… and it required a filter which was so dark it became almost impossible to see through the viewfinder in my SLR… but the results were usually very interesting! 🙂
I have infrared as a setting directly in my digital camera as a filter, and I love it. I’ve never tried infrared film when I was analogue though, but I love the effect. And your image. Fantastic feeling.
A lot of times I lighten greens / yellows and darken blues in Photoshop to try create that kind of feeling. It’s been a while since I’ve shot any infrared film… I had access to a darkroom at the time. I miss it quite a bit. I always found it very relaxing (unless a project wasn’t cooperating with me, that is)!
🙂
Maybe you should look at Pentax SLR cameras. I have Pentax K20 D and I have had it since 2008 and I love my camera. The filters in it, especially the IR filter. I have yellow, orange, blue, cyan, green, magenta, red and IR.
I often use the orange filter, that’s my favourite I think.
I’ve had a few other people tell me they really like Pentax, too. I pretty much like any camera (they nearly all fascinate me for some reason)…
🙂
Only Pentax fascinates me… 😉