snorkie128
Three Colorful Notes
Day 199 of 365
"Three Colorful Notes"
I wish today's image had been four times easier to capture. Were you aware that it is nearly impossible to pluck a piano string vertically? I had never thought about it before today. So, a little backstory may be in order. A few months ago I acquired a stripped-down little piano. My neighbor was going to throw it away, and naturally I had to take it off her hands. I knew I would photograph it in some matter at some time. Upon wrestling it into my garage (it must way about 200 lbs), I tried to figure out what to do with it. I knew the image would involve holi powder in some way, but I had not worked out the details. After changing angles and lighting several times, I finally decided that low was the way to go. Assuming I did not light whatever was behind the instrument, the low angle would isolate the powders against darkness. It seemed to make sense. What did NOT make sense was how I was going to "trigger" the strings to release the colored powders simultaneously. The lighting was very simple. There is a snooted speedlight at camera-right, aimed slightly back towards the camera. That's it. After loading the strings carefully with a mixture of holi powder and baking soda (the soda allowed me to dilute the the colors and give the holi powders some heft), I feverishly plucked the strings and triggered the camera, nearly at the same time. Needless to say, some frames are void of any powders, and others show my plucking fingers. Following several attempts, I managed to come up with this exposure. This is one exposure, and once I captured it, I walked away. I knew I would not get a better one for a while.........and I was tired of piling minute quantities of powder on to piano strings. I foresee other images involving this piano in the future. Thanks for giving a pluck and stopping by!!
#piano #music #pianostrings #stringinstrument #holipowder #powder #strings #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #roguesnoot #colors
Three Colorful Notes
Day 199 of 365
"Three Colorful Notes"
I wish today's image had been four times easier to capture. Were you aware that it is nearly impossible to pluck a piano string vertically? I had never thought about it before today. So, a little backstory may be in order. A few months ago I acquired a stripped-down little piano. My neighbor was going to throw it away, and naturally I had to take it off her hands. I knew I would photograph it in some matter at some time. Upon wrestling it into my garage (it must way about 200 lbs), I tried to figure out what to do with it. I knew the image would involve holi powder in some way, but I had not worked out the details. After changing angles and lighting several times, I finally decided that low was the way to go. Assuming I did not light whatever was behind the instrument, the low angle would isolate the powders against darkness. It seemed to make sense. What did NOT make sense was how I was going to "trigger" the strings to release the colored powders simultaneously. The lighting was very simple. There is a snooted speedlight at camera-right, aimed slightly back towards the camera. That's it. After loading the strings carefully with a mixture of holi powder and baking soda (the soda allowed me to dilute the the colors and give the holi powders some heft), I feverishly plucked the strings and triggered the camera, nearly at the same time. Needless to say, some frames are void of any powders, and others show my plucking fingers. Following several attempts, I managed to come up with this exposure. This is one exposure, and once I captured it, I walked away. I knew I would not get a better one for a while.........and I was tired of piling minute quantities of powder on to piano strings. I foresee other images involving this piano in the future. Thanks for giving a pluck and stopping by!!
#piano #music #pianostrings #stringinstrument #holipowder #powder #strings #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #roguesnoot #colors