MM: Marbles. Through alien eyes
Bottle top approximately 1.25 inches across. This is the top of a Victorian 'marble' or 'Codd bottle' (after the inventor. Ingenious things for carbonated drinks. A rubber grommet, a cleverly shaped glass neck so the marble is pressed up against the rubber washer by the gas pressure. When the bottle is tilted and turned, the marble is trapped in a kink in the neck, allowing the liquid out.
I have photographed one of these before, but I didn't own one or any other marbles. On Saturday fate smiled. Every year they drain the park boating lake, then let it fill again on the next very high tide. This year, the silt must have moved sufficiently to expose this bottle. This one has a rather pitted outer surface from so long being swilled around in sandy silt, but is otherwise in good condition with its rubber seal still amazingly intact.
For this shot I suspended the bottle up side down and fired flash through the base. I used various gels and angles, making some great effects and I struggled to decide which one to use. This is one of the less radical ones.
MM: Marbles. Through alien eyes
Bottle top approximately 1.25 inches across. This is the top of a Victorian 'marble' or 'Codd bottle' (after the inventor. Ingenious things for carbonated drinks. A rubber grommet, a cleverly shaped glass neck so the marble is pressed up against the rubber washer by the gas pressure. When the bottle is tilted and turned, the marble is trapped in a kink in the neck, allowing the liquid out.
I have photographed one of these before, but I didn't own one or any other marbles. On Saturday fate smiled. Every year they drain the park boating lake, then let it fill again on the next very high tide. This year, the silt must have moved sufficiently to expose this bottle. This one has a rather pitted outer surface from so long being swilled around in sandy silt, but is otherwise in good condition with its rubber seal still amazingly intact.
For this shot I suspended the bottle up side down and fired flash through the base. I used various gels and angles, making some great effects and I struggled to decide which one to use. This is one of the less radical ones.