Today’s Forecast #13054

The Story

What is this? It’s a colorful liquid abstract image done in micro photography. I thoroughly enjoy the strong blue and yellow together because of the beauty of the combination and the powerful impact….boom.

When? This image was created outdoors on a bright sunny day. Note the tiny sun stars sparkling on each of the bubbles.

Where? It was accomplished on the back deck here at home base.

How? I raided the kitchen for parts. This began with a thin film of cooking oil that had spread out across shallow water in a 13×9 clear baking dish. I had it positioned about nine inches off the floor on four table glasses. Most of the water had evaporated away in the direct and hot July sun which left the oil in random shapes. Naturally, that left evaporation lines wrapping and weaving together through the frame that added interest.

However, that alone wouldn’t work to make something with artistic expression and beauty. The real trick lies in what is put under the oil and water mix to be viewed through it. Something colorful or with a pattern often works well…Christmas wrapping paper, a birthday card, a vibrant shirt, dress, or old album cover. In this case, it was a pack of yellow school pencils and an old blue shirt that finally came to life well.

The title of Today’s Forecast springs from the thought this image can remind you of a weather map on the evening news!

My photographic tools were a tripod fully lowered down on the deck and a very old manual Nikon 55mm spy lens that was originally designed to make microfilm images of documents back in the day. It was mounted upon a very modern digital camera and the whole works made very stable with a good ball head. I shot directly into the computer via a 40-foot tether cable run through the house and out the window, using the camera’s mirror lockup to cut vibration. Adding curiosity, the actual area photographed was about the size of a fingernail.

It was quite a bit of setup and a lot of experimentation, but well worth it. I loved creating this colorful liquid abstract and the others in my gallery of abstracts because it was fun and very random. Things can’t be planned very much ahead and you simply ride the creative wave. You never know what will come out!

A little photo luck from the Photo Gypsy is usually needed to create a compelling liquid abstract with an impact like this one. Interestingly, I’ve tried this type of micro photography again a few more times and many never quite worked out. Overall, these are done in a hit-or-miss fashion…and it’s mostly miss!

Finally, this colorful abstract and the others look tremendous rendered on gloss metal. Not surprisingly, it’s as if they were made for the medium. If you really enjoy an unusual image with zing, a few others to consider are Mystic Moons #13051 here and Neon Night Flyer #10069 here.

Location: Mi Hacienda Poco in Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania. Image and text © Andrew Dierks