These rock pillars, or hoodoos, tell the geologic story of erosion seen in treasured natural landscapes worldwide. Over millions of years, changes in climate conditions shaped them by washing away sediments and chipping off slabs of earth.
Spring is finally here and before you know it those muggy summer days will be upon us. While most of us prefer to stay inside next to the air conditioner, photographer Steve Wall, known on Flickr as Steve took it, grabs his camera and heads straight out the door.
“The more humid, the better,” he tells The Weekly Flickr in this week’s episode. “Because I know there’s something incredible outside to be captured.”
Steve is particularly interested in macro photography, a type of extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects. He describes it as venturing into a whole new world.
His obsession for water drops began completely by accident. He bought a new camera, but the lens he wanted was on order. “I couldn’t just stand there and look at my camera,” he says. “So I purchased an inexpensive Nikkor 60mm macro lens.”
A few days later he went outside after a rainstorm to capture a few interesting drops on pine needles. It was only when he looked at those shots on his computer that he noticed the pine needles were refracted inside the water, as seen in his photo Tripple Dripper.
“I was amazed,” Steve says. “The the first thing I wanted to know was ‘How did that happen?’ and the second thing I wanted to know was ‘What else could I put in there?’. Since then I’ve been on a quest to take better and better macro photos.”
Steve was fascinated by the physics of water drops and their ability to refract images. “It’s amazing you can have such detail in such a small size,” he says. “The idea that water is cohesive and actually forms a sphere and that sphere is a lens… the same kind of lens on the old time cameras that refracts an image upside down and backwards. It’s mesmerizing.”
The water drop photos in Steve’s photostream are the result of an evolutionary process. He actually created a self-described ‘water drop photo factory’ in his own backyard.
“I’ve planted my garden with various kinds of good plants for blooms nearby, good plants for retaining water drops,” Steve admits. “And I’ve learned you don’t just look at the water drops from one angle; you have to move up and down and back and forth to try to get the perfect angle of the refraction inside. And this of course frequently means crawling around on my hands and knees in the wet!”
One of his favorites is called Drops of Purple Petals, which he took on his hands and knees using a Coke can as a tripod to get the perfect angle. He likes this one in particular because you can actually see tiny water drops on the petals of the flower refracted inside the larger droplets.
Steve is often asked if the images inside the water drops are real or edited in with Photoshop. People are so convinced of the latter that they’ve even invited him to join Flickr groups specifically for photoshopped images. Steve finds the assumptions amusing and enjoys their reactions when they learn the truth.
“My favorite thing is when those who thought my pictures were photoshopped take it on as a challenge for themselves to capture water drop photos,” he says, “They often come back and say, ‘Wow, you were right!’”
Steve plans to continue his love for finding refractions in dew drops because he’s still impressed by the color, composition and details of every picture.
“It’s just amazingly beautiful,” Steve says. “The idea that you peer inside the water drop, you can see hidden worlds of mystery. It just lets your imagination run wild.”
Visit Steve’s photostream for more of his inspiring macro and nature photography.
Do you want to be featured on The Weekly Flickr? We are looking for your photos that amaze, excite, delight and inspire. Share them with us in the The Weekly Flickr Group or tweet us at #theweeklyflickr.
Hadouken (波動拳 hadōken?, IPA: [hadoːkẽꜜɴ]) is a Japanese neologism, literally meaning “wave motion fist” or “surge fist”. It is a special attack used by characters in the game Street Fighter. Takashi Nishiyama, the creator of the game, credits the 1970s anime Space Battleship Yamato and a missile called the Hadouho as the origin of hadouken. The move is achieved by the character thrusting their palms forward, sending a surge of spirit energy flying towards the opponent. – Wikipedia
We have noticed an increased amount of Hadouken photos being uploaded in the past couple of days. If you are sharing your outburst of spirit energy, don’t forget to add the tag hadouken. Let’s see if this has the potential to evolve into a new meme.
Last Flickr Friday we asked you to capture your favorite Street Scenes.
Above is a selection of submissions you entered (and believe me, it was hard to narrow these down). There were fantastic black and white photos, street portraits, wonderful candid shots, and plays on perspective. You took us all around the world and showed us your streets from the smallest detail to sweeping panoramas. Check out all the contributions in the Flickr Friday group pool. Thanks for your hard work and creativity, and tune in on Friday to hear our next Flickr Friday theme!
Arashiyama, or “Storm Mountain”, is one of Japan’s designated Historic Sites and can be found on the western edge of Kyoto. The district features Shinto shrines, natural parks, and a stunning walk that winds through its bamboo forest. Take some time to explore even more of Arashiyama’s beauty through photos from others who have visited.
Packed full of glaciers, Greenland is currently credited for 10 percent of the rising sea levels globally tracked from melting ice. The Arctic country — home for a population of 57,000 now led by Aleqa Hammond, Greenland’s first female prime minister — has popped up in recent news as it undergoes pressure to allow more licensed searches for offshore oil and adjust taxation for foreign mining. Amid the focus of its geopolitical importance, the world’s largest island also happens to offer amazing ethereal views that make it a stunning location for photographers to appreciate.
Manipulating instant pack film by hand often produces eerie and surreal effects. In the above photos, expired peel-apart film has been played with to let the chemicals bleed messily onto its borders. This unpredictable process is always a bit of a gamble, and everything from the temperature, pressure applied, and age of the film itself will decide what you’re left with in the end.
Before you prepare to dye (or fry) your eggs this weekend, take a minute to appreciate these moments of joy and grief from beyond the carton. Jumbo and free-range eggs alike have dreams of becoming something more than the discarded gametes they are, and all fear joining their fallen comrades in that giant scramble in the sky.
The companion blog to Flickr, the photography revolution for sharing, storing, and organizing your photos that provides easy photo management and collaboration in one of the largest worldwide photo communities.
Flickr is a revolution in photo storage, sharing and organization, making photo management an easy, natural and collaborative process. Get comments, notes, and tags on your photos, post to any blog, share and more!
