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Still burning in the afterglow….
By Silver Blue
There exists a photographic phenomenon call various things: “False Sunset”, “Lingering Sunset” or simply “Afterglow.”
What is it? Well, as it was described to me: you have your typical sunset. For 90 minutes, or so, after the sunset the energy of the sun still is in the sky — though you’re eyes can’t perceive it, your digital camera is able to.
Point your digital camera in the direction of the night sky where the sunset happened (and you see a black sky, or perhaps starlit), and take a photo. You’d expect to get a nice, star studded sky, yes? Well….not quite. You get:
Notice I picked up the green of a mercury vapor light, and the yellow of a sodium vapor light, but…what’s up with that “black” sky? It doesn’t look so “black” anymore.
In fact, it looks to be sunset. But … it’s not. Sunset happened at 7:39pm. This photo was taken at 8:19pm. A full 40 minutes after the sun slipped under the horizon.
Now, the neat thing about a False Sunset, Lingering Sunset, or Afterglow is that if you rotate yourself a full 180 degrees and shoot in the OPPOSITE direction from the sunset, you get the black sky you’re expecting.
(Just for giggles and grins, I photographed the same scene at 4:35 in the morning when I had to let the dogs out. Behold. Black sky.)
Mind you, I could have messed with the contrast and made the sky a complete pitch black, but that’s not what I was going for. I live in the city, we have light pollution. Ergo, the sky will actually appear as a medium to dark grey, unlike if you’re in the countryside, away from cities and towns, and can get the true black sky captured. (Plus, I don’t have my tripod over here, so it makes it a bit harder to steady the camera, and that’s why the top photo is somewhat out of focus.
I look forward to playing with this phenomenon more in the future.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/tt-a7.mp3]Silver Blue, who sings along, “If you could see me now, just living my life in limbo…still burning in the afterglow…”
Pieces of my past
By Silver Blue
There are certain things that will always remind me of my youth, and I’ve had the opportunity to capture a few of these in picture this evening.
This was from my Grandma on my mom’s side. He sat on a shelf in her kitchen for years. I mean… for YEARS.
Dad brought back, from Japan, a pair of Kimono’d figurines.
When I was in High School, I ended up having to drop out of AP Algebra and take Algebra III at a local college. I helped a Chinese lady with her English, and she presented me with this watercolour. This would have been either fall 1984 or spring 1985, but she painted it in June 1983. I still remember the other option was a clown on a unicycle with balloons, but this more captured the Lucy I knew. 🙂
My room is pretty much as it was when I lived at my parents house, with a few minor changes. I was big into unicorns and suncatchers in high school:
Finally, remember my logo? This one?
It’s still there. It’s just hidden now behind my mother’s collection of Furby’s (she has them all, except for the gem encrusted $100,000.00 FAO Swartz edition):
Years can’t take away these memories. 🙂
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/ssy.mp3]Silver Blue… over and out.
Look behind the facade….
By Silver Blue
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/jh-f.mp3]A series of shots of harlequin masks shot over the past 5 years.
Masquerade noun \ˌmas-kə-ˈrād\: a social gathering of persons wearing masks and often fantastic costumes (Merriam-Webster Definition)
Facade noun \fə-ˈsäd\: a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect (Merriam-Webster definition)
Harlequin noun \ˈhär-li-k(w)ən\: a character in comedy and pantomime with a shaved head, masked face, variegated tights, and wooden sword (Merriam-Webster Definition)
These “masks”, designed for decorative purposes only, run from $19.99 for the very small, basically unadorned, to well over $250 for the feathered and hand painted/glittered. While I don’t own any of these (I much prefer the one here from my great friend $ally and James, which adorns my mantle), I am taken in with their beauty when I visit.
Silver Blue… who has far too many “Masquerade” songs in his archives for his own good. 🙂
South of Virginia…
By Silver Blue
…in Elizabeth City, NC. 2006. Not much to say about these photos, so I’ll let them stand on their own.
Silver Blue, who is thankful that the photos remain, long after the reason for taking them has gone by the wayside.
Playing Dress-Up
By Silver Blue
Journey back with me to my high school years. (Photographic permissions from Max/Ward Delmar/Lifetouch Photography has been obtained prior.)
I had my hair “spot permed” in my Junior year, to achieve the pompadour effect. I had a top hat that had been purchased for the outfit, but on the ferry ride from Portsmouth to Norfolk, the wind whipped it off my head and into the bay. I still joke about a “best dressed fish” in the bay. (I like my hair best in this photograph.)
Silver Blue…. who remembers the rose after the rain, and agrees…something beautiful remains.
Oh deer.
By Silver Blue
I seem to not have an idea for a blog entry for tonight, so here’s a shot of a deer from Newport News Park, in 1996, using my Minolta X370 film camera.
Night everyone. Silver Blue, over and out.
Life from a couple different angles
By Silver Blue
Always be on the lookout for shape, colour, form, and angle. Photos can come from some of the most unexpected areas
Two such options came to be while waiting for the Grand Illumination in downtown Norfolk, VA:
It’s all in how you “see”. If you open your eyes, what does the world around you look like?
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/sbem.mp3]Silver Blue, who keeps looking for that elusive “Eden”….
I’m on the top of the world…
By Silver Blue
or at least it seemed. July, 2001. Toronto, Ontario. The CN Tower. Dinner. Fabulous.
TALL!
Up, Up, UP! (Did I mention that I’m not too keen on heights?)
Still, dinner was faboo. I had longer hair.
…and I also had a diamond stud earring.
It was a time that was well worth the 62 minutes dinner took (as that was how long it took the restaurant to rotate. I may never pass that way again, but for that brief moment in time, I truly was …on top of the world.
I had to do a lot of post processing to this photo because the city is so bright behind me, I practically was enrobed in shadows. The Sheraton Centre is the second buildling over my right shoulder (look at the pole coming out of my shoulder — little dark grey square building, then the long, flat building beside it….) that was where I stayed my trip north of the border.
The Sheraton.
The years have stolen from me the name of this art deco-ish hotel, but I loved the shapes!
Service was great as well. I snapped a photo of the server, because I thought his eyes matched his vest. Now that I look back upon it, no so much. But he did give the true Canadian hospitality, and that made the moment memorable. I don’t even remember (no surprise) what his name was. I wasn’t as good at putting in captions and meta data as I am these days, and with digital photos, there’s no “back” to write on. LOL.
Silver Blue, who now is going to bed. Nite-nite everyone!
A Study in Colour (Part 5)
By Silver Blue
This brings me to the conclusion of the photos that I took this past weekend at Busch Gardens. Oh, I took far more than the 27 shots you’ve seen… but these were the ones I shot with an eye toward form and colour.
Much like the snapdragons that were in front of the “window” in “Germany”, here are another set.
Near the Roman Rapids ride in the Festa Italia section of the park is a waterfall, and shooting station where you can pay an quarter to shoot a stream of water on the passing by riders.
Daisies, Tulips and Dusty Miller come together to … I can’t explain it other than to say it makes me happy.
Using Bokeh (or depth of field to throw the background out of focus is something I enjoy experimenting with. Here, the red tulip and pink snapdragon are the same distance from the lens.
I wonder what happens once everything blooms out. Do they take the plants back to the greenhouse? Do they collect seeds? Or … are they merely turned into mulch?
A straight down shot. Almost looks like a space pod opening up!
What you first see upon entering, and what you last see when exiting the park. The change from the fountain is donated to charity.
Of course, when the heat of summer hits, these delicate pansies will be history. I’d not seen the dusty rose/lavender before, at least not this season.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/cu-ta.mp3]Silver Blue… who will look for colour to study!
A Study in Colour (Part 4)
By Silver Blue
More photos from the trip to Busch Gardens:
Something to be said about varying bushes with flowers. The pom-pom effect is nice, though I don’t know what kind of plant it is.
More “bedrock” sprouting with a variety of flowers in copious colours.
From almost opposing colours comes a soothing flow of shape and form.
Nature has its own way of cranking up the saturation. 🙂
Even the repeating pattern of colourful umbrellas can be interesting, even when blocked by a tree that has yet to sprout.
The richness of a metallic purple carousel horse beckons one to mount and ride… one more ride on the merry-go-round.
Only I would look up and see…. Silver and Blue. LOL.
It may look like wood, or marble, but this is pollen, resting on the surface of the “Rhine” river flowing through Busch Gardens.
Finally….
I call this “The Lady Of The Lake/The Rhine Maiden” (A hat tip to the legend of King Arthur and to Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”.) Can you see her face?
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/omrotmgr.mp3]Silver Blue, who… is at a loss for words this evening.
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