Striving to be creative.

I feel that I am a fairly competent photographer and I can technically create most images that can be directed my way.  Where I struggle though is in the creativity field.  I am constantly amazed by those out there who have a deep imagination and then can execute them.  Whether it be in camera or in post I see some incredible photographs and I am inspired to try to push myself.

 

In trying to be creative I also try to thing of something I have not seen before.  Now this is not easy as the internet has not only shrunk the world but expanded the universe of creativity.  It is a good chance that when you come up with an idea someone else has attempt it as well.  Still this does not mean one should not experiment and that is what I did with today's photo of the day.

 

The concept had come to me after looking at some of the photo's I did in the early spring and I thought I would try it in the summer.  For this attempt I waited until I found a dandelion that was perfect and picked it and brought it into the house.  I then hung it inside our freezer and then lightly misted it and closed the door.  I came back at different times and added layers upon layers.  At first I did not think it had worked as it did not get encased the way I envisioned it so I left it for a day.

 

I decided to look closer at it today and thought that it still might work as it did have an interesting look.  I closed the door and went and retrieved my camera and added a 20 mm extension tube to the 24-70.  I was originally planning to set up in the studio but decided against it as I was afraid that the ice and dandelion were to fragile.  I set up the camera on the tripod, then set the ISO to 400.  I knew I would need a longer exposure time as I wanted f8 for a little depth of field.  I figured I would start at 1/10 sec as I knew I was going to use a flash light as the source to light the dandelion in the freezer.

 

Once I was all set I quickly opened the door and slid the camera in close and framed up my subject.  Taking the flash light I tried about 5 images with the light coming from different directions.  I had to work fast as even in the minute that the door was open the ice began to melt.  This was the second last shot I captured before I pulled the camera away and closed the door.  I was not sure what I had 100% so I misted the dandelion again and left it in case I had to come back and try again.

 

Once I downloaded the files I took a look at them and I was happy to see that 4 of the 5 images had potential.  I chose this one as I liked the light on the stem which none of the others had.  I rotated it in photoshop and added the frame with OnOne's Perfect Photo 7.  I like the result and will try it again a few times over the course of the summer.