P3D Re: Ice Storm

["David W. Kesner" <drdave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In PHOTO-3D digest 2510 Paul Talbot writes:

> I have seen a few of David's slides of ice formations and they are
> superb!  If I could produce results anything like his, the rewards
> would most definitely be worth the effort, as David says. 
>
> Please do share your thoughts, tips, and tricks with us!  I'd love
> to hear how you make such beautiful ice shots.

First, Thank you for the compliment Paul. It is alway gratifying to 
know that I am producing work that pleases others as well as myself.

I realize that photographing ice formations is a narrow and 
specialized subject (much like my cave photography) so I won't go 
into great detail, but instead offer a few general tips and 
recommendations.

Lighting, lighting, lighting. There is probably no single more 
important aspect to photographing ice than this. The same subject, 
shot from the same location at the same settings will look 
drastically different depending on where the light is coming from 
(front, back, side, or top). Bring along a strong flashlight and a 
friend to light the subject from the different angles while you 
observe from the camera's perspective. Better yet, just shoot a 
couple with the light at different angles. A favorite method of mine 
for shooting multiple formations is to light each one up individually 
by placing the flash behind, and touching the formation. The light 
bounces off the internal fractures, surfaces, and impurities and 
lights up the formation without lighting up anything else around it. 
You can also use colored gels over your flash to paint the 
formations.

If you are photographing in daylight, look at the reflections in the 
formations and move around until you find something interesting. 
This can be reflections from subjects in front of the formation or 
the formation can act like a lens to focus subjects behind it. I have 
been know to place something behind the formation (and out of view) 
to get that perfect image.

As I said in my original post one of the down falls of photographing 
in cold weather with a rangefinder camera is that if the lenses fog 
up you won't know it unless you look at the front of the camera. Make 
sure you bring along some lens paper or try one of the anti-fogging 
products and check often. This is especially true if you are bringing 
the camera in and out of different temperatures. If I am driving 
around to different locations, I will leave my equipment in the cold 
trunk rather than the warm cabin.

Another problem more prone to older 3D cameras is the cold affecting 
the shutters. They can become sticky when the cold congeals the 
lubricant. If you are photographing in the dark and using the B 
setting, then this isn't a problem. You may want to test your camera 
without film in it to see if the cold affects your shutter speed.

The biggest problem of photographing ice formations at night (or in a 
cave) is that you end up with a very contrasty slide. Nice bright, 
white formations against a very black background. This works very 
well in a hand-held viewer, but can produce pronounced ghosting when 
projected. One solution to this is to include a background that you 
can illuminate (a cave wall, a plant or bush, etc.)

I hope this isn't too much info. If you would like more, email me off 
list and I would be happy to discuss it further.

Thanks for the time,


David W. Kesner
Boise, Idaho, USA
drdave@xxxxxxxxxx


------------------------------