Years ago, Hannah gave me a cactus for a present. It lives on my desk, and traveled with me from Lexington, MA to Seattle. While my latest 4×5 camera is very light as 4×5 cameras go, it is still tempting to look for subjects that are right under my nose. I spotted the sun shining on the cactus. The result:
The highlights are a bit blown out and I could wish for more light on the bit of driftwood. A week or so later, I received a macro lens for my large format camera. Hmm. How do you set up and use this? The first attempt:
I was so busy fighting to get the cactus’ fuzz into focus, that I neglected to notice the bright bands at the upper right from the window in the background. I was also shooting diagonally down at the top of the plant, which led to some complicated use of the camera’s ‘motions’. Time for another session.
Working at close range, it’s not hard to get enough light for some good contrast. And even a plain clay pot offers some interesting texture in black and white:
Would this be a better image if I had the whole plant on the right hand side? Or do the spines leaving the frame give it some sense of movement? An organized person would have tried another making just that change … but instead I did some research on how to use a large format macro lens, and discovered the process of getting a 2:1 magnification factor:
I’m not gonna lie. I like this one. The relatively familiar is rendered into something very different. I wanted to try some additional lighting. I got out a little LED lamp, figured out how to hold it, activate the shutter, and work a timer all at the same time …
… and Henry the cat decided to land on the table in mid-exposure. Oh well, there’s always more film.
Just gorgeous. I love the progression. What is the metal object in the first photo?
If you look at #2 without reference to the other photos, it’s sort of unworldly and creepy and gorgeous all at the same time.
The object is a Vajra. A symbol of sudden enlightenment. A ‘flash’ of understanding, if you like.