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Extra-Ordinary Objects
These objects are not extraordinary at all; in fact, they're quite ordinary. But the photos show them in a way that I hope may be a little outside of the ordinary. (Admittedly, they look more unusual as 6x9" prints than they do here as small images. Oh, well.) It's pretty obvious what some of them are; others you may have to think about. I've listed them here from the easiest to the most difficult (in my opinion, of course). For some technical notes about these photos, see the bottom of the page.
Funhouse mirror?
Playground of the eensy-weensy spider?
Cutting-edge technology?
Knight's helmet?
Diner's friend?
Fraternal twins?
Morning's master?
Double-edged sword?
Evening's servant?
Foucault's pendulum?
Guild emblem?
Technical notes:
These photos were made with a 35mm camera with a 70-210mm lens and two close-up lenses attached to the front. Most were shot from less than six inches away, at f/22-32. I knew the depth of field would be rather shallow, even at f/32, but I was surprised at exactly how shallow it was (about half an inch). Photoshop's unsharp mask helped a little in a couple of cases, but it can do only so much.
The images labelled "Fraternal twins?" are not made from the same negative. The only difference between the two is the background; everything else (including the lighting) is identical. (Of course, I did do a "flip horizontal" on the left one for this page.) The one with the black background printed nicely with a #2 filter; the one with the white background required a #4 before it looked right. Getting them right in Photoshop did not require nearly as much contrast adjustment as making the prints in the darkroom did.
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Copyright © 1997, Elizabeth A. Buie.
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Last updated 30 April 2006, to revise the visual design