A Little Splash (water droplet no. 1)

Posted on January 31, 2013 by spilledinkguy

Kinda’ makes me want a Coke. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Bobby Boucher: “Now that’s what I call high quality H2O.”

– Adam Sandler – The Waterboy

About this image: digital photograph (Canon 300D) lightly modified in Adobe Photoshop

97 thoughts on “A Little Splash (water droplet no. 1)”

Syncopated Eyeball on January 31, 2013 at 12:18 am said:

Oooh! It looks like glass. And a magically floating ball. Very nice, Robert. 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 7:28 am said:
  
  Thank you very much, S.E!
  I was surprised by how glass-like it seemed!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Laura on January 31, 2013 at 2:56 am said:

This brings back memories! I took a strobe photography class many years ago where we took pictures like this. Mine never came out as pretty as this one, though.

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 7:27 am said:
  
  This was a challenge, Laura… because the only off-camera flash I have doesn’t actually ‘talk’ to my camera. I tried a bunch of different things… none of them worked quite right, but this was as close as close I’ve gotten (so far, anyway).
  Sounds like a fun class!!!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
  - Laura on February 1, 2013 at 4:43 am said:
    
    The first half (where we recreated a bunch of famous photos) was fun. Then came the final project, which was a nightmare.
    
    Reply ↓
    - spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:32 pm said:
      
      Hmm… that’s unfortunate for a class that started off so well!
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
stylentonic on January 31, 2013 at 3:30 am said:

I want a Coke too 😉

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 7:26 am said:
  
  Hahaha…
  glad to hear it’s not just me!
  🙂
  
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Shackled and Crowned on January 31, 2013 at 4:05 am said:

Yes!
Fantastic, waking up to this. 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 7:25 am said:
  
  I’m very happy to hear you liked it!
  Thank so much!
  🙂
  
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astrawally on January 31, 2013 at 5:43 am said:

Excellent and superbly caught SIG

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 7:25 am said:
  
  Thank you very much, Astra!
  🙂
  
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musingsoftheamusingmuse on January 31, 2013 at 8:39 am said:

I’ve always enjoyed water droplet photos – this one is no exception – nice work, my friend.

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:48 am said:
  
  Thanks so much, A.M!
  I didn’t have quite the right set-up to get exactly what I wanted… but this one seemed close-enough to convey the idea, anyway.
  🙂
  
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pegoleg on January 31, 2013 at 8:42 am said:

I love the water droplet pictures – I don’t know how you ever got it to stand still like that!

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:47 am said:
  
  It took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to glue it.
  🙂
  
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Nikitaland on January 31, 2013 at 8:53 am said:

I LOVE photographs like this! They are so awesome! I have always wanted to try to capture one, but never have. Great job, love it!

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:46 am said:
  
  Thank you so much!
  I didn’t get exactly what I was hoping for… but this one seemed about the closest… so far, anyway!
  🙂
  
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  - Nikitaland on January 31, 2013 at 12:26 pm said:
    
    I know you have to use a tripod, but how hard is it to capture something like this?
    
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    - spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 12:41 pm said:
      
      Well… um… kind of depends on what you’ve got (I think).
      I think the general procedure is to set up a sandwich bag with a tiny hole punched in it to ‘drip’ into a container of water below (focusing on the spot where the drips fall). That part went okay… but it seems most people use an off camera flash to bounce light off a card behind (rather than directly at the water). That was a problem for me, because I don’t have an off camera flash that will ‘talk’ to my camera. This was the result of reflecting (with a mirror) some light at the container, some back lighting (from a window) and trying to diffuse / direct on-camera flash with my hand. Also I can only go up to 1/200th with that flash… wish it was a bit faster. Sorry… that was probably WAY more info than you were wanting!
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
      - Nikitaland on January 31, 2013 at 2:54 pm said:
        
        That is exactly what I wanted to hear, the details! I would have never thought of a bag with water. You are awesome for sharing your tips! Keep em coming, I am hooked on your blog!
      - spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:50 pm said:
        
        To tell you the truth I had heard (or seen) that somewhere before… so I can’t take too much credit for that particular trick… but anytime! I’m always happy to talk about this stuff (ad nauseum it seems)!
        🙂
      - Bo Lumpkin on January 31, 2013 at 5:27 pm said:
        
        That’s what I thought you did! 🙂 You know I had no idea what you did but I couldn’t resist that one.
      - Laura on February 1, 2013 at 4:41 am said:
        
        Back in Strobe Lab, we just turned out the lights and left the camera shutter open. Of course, we had one piece of equipment you might not have lying around the house: a controller for the flash that used an electric eye (which we positioned fairly high in the drip path to detect when a droplet passed by) and a timer that would let us set a delay. So we could basically just set up the detector and the dripping water (I think we used milk), watch where the drip was when the flash went off, and adjust the timer accordingly.
        
        These were black-and-white pictures on film. We got the shapes but not all the cool reflections that show up in yours.
      - spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:39 pm said:
        
        Interesting! I tried something similar. I don’t have that kind of equipment, of course, but I do have an old flash (it just can’t ‘talk’ to my camera). So I did try the dark room / slow shutter / manual fire trick… (like I’ve done with smoke) but it didn’t seem to work out very well for me here.
        Interesting again! I was also thinking of trying a more ‘opaque’ fluid (I was thinking milk or ‘Sunny D’), too. I thought that way I could set the pan in a huge pool of direct sunlight (so I could use a much faster shutter speed – while cutting back on any areas of pan that might be visible through something as transparent as water). I was keeping a bit quiet about that, until I could test it out a bit.
        🙂
      - Laura on February 1, 2013 at 10:09 pm said:
        
        I remember that smoke picture! It was great.
        
        The sensor/timer thingy made it so much easier. We didn’t even have to sync with a slow shutter speed — with the cameras we had, you could manually open and close the shutter. The only problem was that you had to do this in the dark. 🙂
      - spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:19 am said:
        
        Why, thank you, Laura!
        Indeed! This stuff can get a bit tricky even when you can SEE what’s happening…
        🙂
meganbestoffates on January 31, 2013 at 8:55 am said:

Oooh, so pretty. And now I’m thirsty. And kinda want to break something and photograph it. Which is possibly a strange direction to go in.

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:45 am said:
  
  Thank you so much, Megan!
  It’s not uncommon that I break things while attempting to photographing them.
  Only it’s usually not intended.
  🙂
  
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shewhocarriescamera on January 31, 2013 at 9:46 am said:

ooh la la!! fantabulous!

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:41 am said:
  
  Thank you so much, J.G!
  Didn’t get exactly what I’d been hoping for… but this was probably about the best of the lot.
  🙂
  
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Madame Weebles on January 31, 2013 at 10:11 am said:

It does look like glass, but it also makes me really thirsty.

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 10:40 am said:
  
  Maybe it’ll inspire me to actually drink my coke from a glass…
  but probably not.
  Because I’m not really classy like that.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
The Bumble Files on January 31, 2013 at 11:24 am said:

How on earth did you make this happen, Robert?! It looks like a little crystal ball. You must be a miracle worker. It’s just lovely. It doesn’t make me think of coke at all. Water maybe!

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 11:54 am said:
  
  This was kind of tricky, B.F… I didn’t really have the correct set-up (an off camera flash that can talk to the camera and can be used to bounce light off a background rather than directly at the water). I tried experimenting, though (using my hand to diffuse / direct the on-camera flash, etc.). Other than that it’s just a matter of setting up a ‘dripping device’, taking a ton of photos and hoping one looks okay. I wish my flash shutter speed was a bit faster (to make this just a bit ‘crisper’), but I do have some other ideas I’d like to try (hopefully they’ll be a bit more cooperative)!
  Thank you so much, Amy!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
  - The Bumble Files on January 31, 2013 at 11:59 am said:
    
    I find this fascinating, Robert. I never knew so much went into photography. It’s so interesting to hear about your process! Thanks for sharing. I enjoy your work! 🙂
    
    Reply ↓
    - spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 12:32 pm said:
      
      Thank you very much, Amy!
      I can get pretty long-winded… I almost can’t help myself, though – having too much fun talking about this stuff!
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
      - The Bumble Files on January 31, 2013 at 12:37 pm said:
        
        That’s fine by me, Robert. I learn so much from you. 🙂
      - spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 12:42 pm said:
        
        Aw, thanks, Amy!
        🙂
poet365 on January 31, 2013 at 11:50 am said:

This has all the fluidity of water
and yet looks incredibly sophisticated.
Your talents are blossoming with
every creative challenge 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 11:58 am said:
  
  This one was a bit of a challenge…
  but it did give me some potential ideas, too… so that was nice!
  Thank you very, very much, sir!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
  - poet365 on January 31, 2013 at 12:01 pm said:
    
    I have been touring your Space earlier
    and there are lots of interesting elements,
    artistic and very awe inspiring so I will be
    calling back later for a good rummage 🙂
    
    Reply ↓
    - spilledinkguy on January 31, 2013 at 12:33 pm said:
      
      How kind of you to say, sir!
      I thank you! Very much!
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
Michelle Gillies on January 31, 2013 at 1:14 pm said:

I’m so glad I found you again. It seems I lost a lot of folks when we disconnected for the move.
As usual the perfect quote for the shot.

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:52 pm said:
  
  I’m very happy about that as well! Ugh! I understand… moving can be kind of brutal… in so many different ways!
  Thank you so much, Ms. G!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Bo Lumpkin on January 31, 2013 at 5:30 pm said:

Does anyone have any Diet Coke? Okay, Just askin’.
Great pic Robert. I really enjoy your stuff.

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm said:
  
  Sorry, Bo…
  just the hard stuff. Of course that’s getting a bit low, too… talk about a Coke emergency!
  Thank you so much, sir! It’s very nice to hear that!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Jackie Cangro on January 31, 2013 at 5:39 pm said:

This image could be used on a bottled water commercial. Just looking at the picture is refreshing. Nice work!

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:47 pm said:
  
  How kind of you to say, Ms. C! Thank you so very much!
  *glug glug glug*
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
thedailydish on January 31, 2013 at 7:30 pm said:

Man am I thirsty now!! Thank goodness it’s almost wine o’clock.. 😉

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm said:
  
  That sounds all classy-like, Dishy…
  I was thinking beer-thirty myself…
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Binky on January 31, 2013 at 9:09 pm said:

That’s really nice! I liked your description of how you did it above, too. I really should try some of these things, they look like fun.

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:44 pm said:
  
  Thank you so very much, sir!
  I think you would enjoy them! Kind of fun! Well, except for the mess a lot of them seem to make (I probably shouldn’t include a description of how long it takes me to put all the ‘stuff’ away… I wouldn’t want to put you off the project)!
  🙂
  
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Redneckprincess on January 31, 2013 at 9:14 pm said:

I sooo need a macro lense….nice shot as always!

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:43 pm said:
  
  Thanks RNP! As far as macro goes I’ve pretty much been using my kit lens. Sometimes with a screw-on diopter (maybe that’s something you could play around with before purchasing a nicer lens… mine was pretty cheep… still fun, though)!
  🙂
  
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pattisj on February 1, 2013 at 1:17 am said:

That is so cool!

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:41 pm said:
  
  Why, thank you, Patti!
  🙂
  
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ristinw on February 1, 2013 at 4:17 am said:

Have a wonderful weekend!!! 😀

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:40 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much, Cristina!
  I hope you have a fantastic weekend as well!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Martin on February 1, 2013 at 5:26 am said:

It may surprise you to know that I have never tried this form of photography in all the 40-odd years of waving various cameras about. I love the shades of blue and green color in this and the ‘horizon’ that gives the image depth 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on February 1, 2013 at 1:27 pm said:
  
  I don’t think I would have guessed that, Martin, but this is the first time I’ve tried it, too!
  Thank you so much! A lot of the color came from some colored plastic I had strewn about (and a lot more came from my monkeying around in Photoshop, of course)! I’m very happy to hear you liked the horizontal, too… I kept going back and fourth with that… to crop or not to crop… couldn’t quite make up my mind.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
youngamericanwisdom.com on February 1, 2013 at 3:04 pm said:

Really beautiful, Sig. Makes me want to play in the rain. 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:21 am said:
  
  Aw, thanks, Nancy!
  The other nice thing about rain is that it reminds me of spring!
  Which… is it here, yet?!
  🙂
  
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Mary on February 1, 2013 at 5:59 pm said:

How’d you do that? Very nice!!!!

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:20 am said:
  
  The set-up was fairly simple (pin-hole in a water-filled sandwich bag suspended over a pan of water)…
  lighting was probably the biggest challenge… still working out a few bugs with that!
  Thank you very much, Mary!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Girl and the Deep Blue Sea on February 2, 2013 at 1:43 am said:

I love the colours in this!

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:18 am said:
  
  Excellent! Thank you!
  A lot of that came from some colored plastic I was trying to filter light through.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
nkimagecollection on February 2, 2013 at 1:59 am said:

Awesome! how did you do that?

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:17 am said:
  
  Why thank you! Very, very much!
  I basically punched a tiny hole in a water-filled sandwich bag which I suspended over a big pan full of water. From what I’ve read you’re supposed to bounce an off-camera flash off a card behind the set-up, but I didn’t have quite the right equipment for that, so I tried reflecting some available light and directing / diffusing my on-camera as best I could… still working out a few bugs… kind of fun, though!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
  - nkimagecollection on February 4, 2013 at 1:52 pm said:
    
    Thanks so much for sharing the details. You did a great job!
    
    Reply ↓
    - spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 5:52 pm said:
      
      Any time!
      Thank you very much!
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
bearmancartoons on February 2, 2013 at 10:39 am said:

Just a drop in the bucket

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:14 am said:
  
  And I think it’s leaking, too.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Derrick Birdsall on February 2, 2013 at 5:19 pm said:

Very cool, shutter speed?

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:14 am said:
  
  This was kinda a comedy of experimental errors, Mr. B…
  only 1/200th (fastest my on-camera flash would allow – and from everything I’ve seen it’s best to use off-camera – bounced off a card behind rather than directly lighting the water – I tried diffusing / directing it a bit but… yeah).
  Anyway, I’m thinking a more opaque liquid would work a bit better for me… in a nice pool of bright, direct sunlight (so I can get a bit more d.o.f and speed at the same time (without worrying about seeing through the liquid as much)…
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
  - Derrick Birdsall on February 7, 2013 at 7:51 pm said:
    
    that’s the fun part! 🙂
    
    Reply ↓
    - spilledinkguy on February 10, 2013 at 9:38 pm said:
      
      🙂
      
      Reply ↓
thephotoseye on February 3, 2013 at 9:20 am said:

This is fantastic!

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:11 am said:
  
  Thank you so very much!
  I’m very happy to hear you liked it!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Tony McGurk on February 3, 2013 at 4:20 pm said:

Well captured. You seem to have a super fast quick draw shutter finger.

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- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:09 am said:
  
  Thank you sir!
  Hahaha… pretty slow, really… the most successful ones happened when I was sure I’d jumped far too early!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
poet365 on February 3, 2013 at 5:15 pm said:

I have been taking a tour around your blog
and I will be back tomorrow to add some of
my thoughts to them.

Your talents are just incredible 🙂

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 7:07 am said:
  
  I sincerely appreciate your looking around, sir!
  And for your incredibly generous comments as well!
  I thank you! Very, very much!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
elmediat on February 4, 2013 at 11:14 am said:

This example of your creative endeavours is just drop in the bucket of what bubbles up from your imagination & skills. Well done ! 🙂

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 4, 2013 at 5:56 pm said:
  
  Why thank you, sir! Very much!
  I just hope the bucket hangs together for a while longer!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
wanderglass on February 4, 2013 at 11:28 pm said:

This is awesome! The idea of trying to do droplet images has been bouncing around in my head for a while… now I know where to start, 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on February 7, 2013 at 7:27 am said:
  
  Thank you so very much!
  Awesome! I bet you’d come up with some wonderful results! It’s been a bit of a challenge, really. I’m not really using the recommended set-up, and it seems like I might have to re-think my strategy a bit…
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
pix & kardz on February 5, 2013 at 9:17 pm said:

this little splash is a big hit. love how crisp the image is, and the light reflected on the water. and that dreamy background, looking like the ocean which you have magically created from duct tape or a baking sheet or a bowl of jello or something. but you always make it look so believable. really cool!
i could imagine this one hanging on a wall, too. thanks for sharing!

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 7, 2013 at 7:20 am said:
  
  I’m so happy you liked this, P&K, thank you!
  Yeah… control over sharpness had been on of my biggest frustration with these droplet experiments so far. I’m one who doesn’t mind some shallow depth-of-filed or implied motion blur, but I like to be able to control where that falls. Hmm… I think I’m going to have to rethink my set-up a bit.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Patti Kuche on February 7, 2013 at 9:57 am said:

A delirious pond of diamond delights! I know from your comments that these are water drops from a sandwich bag etc but I am going with the day dreaming fantasy of the magic you create!

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 7, 2013 at 11:02 am said:
  
  Hahaha… yeah, kind of… yeah. But the baggies really do help keep everything dripping in a fairly consistent spot… and it helps to have an extra hand, too! Thank you for your incredibly kind thoughts, Ms. K!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
nigel on February 9, 2013 at 12:55 pm said:

one of the best I’ve seen! Awesome. 🙂

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 10, 2013 at 9:24 pm said:
  
  Ridiculously kind of you, sir (you should’ve seen the other 100 shots I threw away… yikes)!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
under the skies of arkansas on February 9, 2013 at 8:08 pm said:

looks like you really made a splash here with quite a few likes and comments great stuff

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 10, 2013 at 9:18 pm said:
  
  Thanks you very, very much!
  I hate to brag (well, too much, anyway), but my readers really are the best!
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Red on February 11, 2013 at 10:38 am said:

I like it just as well upside down. Very cool shot.

Reply ↓
- spilledinkguy on February 11, 2013 at 3:35 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Red.
  For a while I had been toying with the idea of posting it sideways… I kind of liked it like that, too.
  🙂
  
  Reply ↓