Still life

My LensBaby Muse came last night--and I had today off to play with it! There is definitely a learning curve, which makes me grateful for digital photography: it costs nothing to experiment. This is one of my first successful shots.

It is way too cold out for photography, so I resorted to playing with fire--candles specifically. I attached my P&S to a chair with a Gorillapod aimed at a candle. Reaching around with one hand, I was able to blow on the flame and snap pictures of it as it flickered and nearly went out. The bottom image shows the three best shots as they came out of the camera. I used just the basic tools--cropping and levels--to produce a sequence showing a flame being extinguished.

Lent is a solemn time. In our church, the altar is nearly bare but for a few candles and some purple cloth. when I took this picture, I didn't know the flash would cast the shadow of the flame. I didn't know a flame could have a shadow! I used the Colorful Center effect with just a very low opacity overlay of Pencil Sketch to draw the eye to the flame and its shadow.

A foot of snow, and I'm sure there were great photo opportunities out there...but it was also wicked cold and a nasty wind blowing needles of sleet against one's skin. I'm no martyr! I stayed by the woodstove. Fire, it turns out, is an elusive subject for photography. This was the best shot I could get. Using the Color Fade effect (I always wondered what it might work for) and a high level Posterize brought out the spunky warmth of that single flame.