BTS: Dreaming of a White Christmas

As promised, here's a behind-the-scenes account of how I came up with the image that I entered into the MPEX photo contest for the month of November.

Internal Dialogue:

Me 1: Shapes and Textures? (while browsing the web page with the contest details)

Me too: Fine, I think I can come up with something decent.

Me 1: ...as inspired by the seasons of fall and winter?

Me too: Crap.


So, how did I go about creating an image inspired by seasons that I can only imagine about?

Well, I went through hunting for storm clouds, straining my calf muscles and finally scrounging for fall-en leaves. If you happened to chance upon me inside the university while doing any of the aforementioned activities, I assure you that I pose no immediate danger to you and others (to myself maybe).

In the end, surprisingly, I resorted to using the dark arts chemistry.

__________

I decided to do a contrast between the warm colors of fall and the cool colors of winter. I easily found leaves of suitable color and shape to represent fall. However, I was a bit stumped as to how to recreate snow and frost; that is until I thought of just simulating its texture and appearance by recrystallizing a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate. I won't bother you with the process and the science behind it, but if you're interested here's a page that discusses and demonstrates it clearly.

I decided to put my supersaturated solution in a petri dish to introduce a circle as a framing element in the image.

I proceeded to recrystallize my supersaturated solution and positioned the leaf on top. I lit this shot from the side with a single off-camera flash to bring out the detail in both the leaf and the crystal.

I could tell that I was on the right track, but the picture looked too sterile for me. So, I tried suspending it on piece of bond paper taped to two stools and lit the setup from the bottom.

This led to some very surprising results. I was able to introduce a number of shapes into the composition, but in the end, I couldn't shake the feeling that it looked like a flag. I gathered that the crystal, already white in color, could act as a diffuser; so, I proceeded to just shoot the light through it. A shot that was made possible with the help of hand model/VAL extraordinaire, Queenie. Thanks, P're. :-)#

I anticipated some diffusion, but what I viewed through the LCD at the back of my camera was just astonishing. Although I was fascinated with how the glow gave it a magical appeal, I noted that too many highlights were blown and opted to dial down the power of the light source down a notch. I decided to tweak white balance, tone, contrast and color in post to get the look I wanted. I also rotated the image to have it appear like a globe nestled in a person's hand, which resulted in the image that you see below.

I do hope to win, but the whole process of conceptualizing, sticking with and executing ideas was in its own way a prize. 

__________

Once again, if you believe that I should have a shot at winning, please vote for my entry entitled Snow Globe on the contest page.

Many, many thanks.