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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 108: Low and Wide : Hosted by Vikas Malhotra >> Eligible : LOW AND WIDE > Xmas Decorations
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10-DEC-2007 Victor Engel

Xmas Decorations

This picture should be considered a sketch of what I have in mind. I haven't spent adequate time in setup. Last week my house was inundated with hundreds of ladybugs. I caught them and put them in the fridge for later use. I got materials to shoot this scene using a wide angle pinhole, but that proved to be too demanding lightwise. This is the compromise -- using a Christmas tree ball to do my wide angle for me.

The lady bugs are supposed to be decorating the trees, but I ran out of time wrangling them. There are many things wrong with this picture, but no time to fix them. At least I have something entered now.

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon 85mm f/1.8 + Extension Tubes

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge12-Dec-2007 00:02
Great idea and execution Victor! We were infested with these things too but it must have been six weeks ago (here in Maine). I remember thinking that I haven't seen any red ladybugs for a long time. - Kelly
ctfchallenge11-Dec-2007 15:29
It's a fascinating shot, Victor. We've had the same invasion here, but the results were not nearly so artistic. *smile* Very creative. ~Lydia
Canon DSLR Challenge11-Dec-2007 07:29
Thanks for the comment. By the way, I figured out what the white spot is in the center of the picture, so now I can eliminate it. To describe it, I have to describe the whole setup. I have an acrylic box about 4x4 inches and 5 inches tall. Inside, I poured some sugar (think, snow). In the snow I placed the various miniature flocked trees (some may not be in the box, but I'll leave that determination up to the viewer, heheh). I dumped in the ladybugs (multicolored Asian ladybugs in case you were wondering) and placed the lid on top. Near the front, I placed a silver ornament ball. The flash was mounted on the camera, and for this picture, I thought I'd succeeded in keeping it out of the picture. For appropriately diffuse light, I mounted a sheet of paper loosely over the flash and aimed it at an appropriate spot.

OK. Now that you know the general setup, here's an explanation of the white spot, explained by tracing the path of a light ray. It leaves the flash, is reflected by the paper onto the silver ornament. From the ornament, it's reflected into the box and reflected off the front surface of the box, then back to the ornament, where it's reflected again into the camera lens. You can see my hands as well. All the ladybugs are alive, by the way. There are over 100 of them in the box, mostly clinging to the edges of the container instead of going where I wanted them to go, of course. The biggest one whose ventral side you see, is walking on the front pane of the box. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge11-Dec-2007 07:10
I love it! The idea of ladybugs as Christmas Tree ornaments is, in itself, fantastic. They're some of the best ornaments I've ever seen, actually!

I've tried to wrangle a few bugs in my time too, and I can sympathize with you completely. Come to think of it, they were beetles too :) Uncooperative little critters, aren't they? Anyhow, I think this came out good enough. Using an ornament as the wide angle element adds to the Christmas Tree theme after all, so no downside to that either.

This shot is a hoot! I can't help but smile. You should think about using it for a Christmas card. Jim H.