An unexpected object of beauty

2 photos for you and I’m going to ask you to choose again…. I do like to make you work !!

They were taken at my local lake at just after 10 this morning. At last we have some frosty weather and ice.

I used my tripod 🙂 however did I manage without one before? The first was just taken in the normal way; manually focused. The light was bright so just as an experiment I thought I’d see what would happen if I used the Scene -Sunrise setting on my D5100 and lo and behold it came out blueish..which I rather like.

The golden glow is because the plastic milk bottle is used to keep straw floating just below the surface to help prevent blue algae and the bright sun was making it glow..

So I wonder which one you prefer?

Thanks for all the comments – bananabatman suggested B&W so I’ve taken out all the colour and added one. I’m afraid I am more of an artist than a technician ( I have soooo much to learn !) and with my primitive Microsoft Office Picture Manager I have tried to tone down the blue but can’t seem to get the gold warmed up grrr… ..here they are anyway.

I thought I liked the 2nd bluest one best but the more I look at these the more I like the 1st one – the original golden one which is the way it was when it first caught my eye…

Tags: 365, 366, blue, colour, gold, Photography, photomania, plastic, Water

32 thoughts on “An unexpected object of beauty”

drawandshoot on January 14, 2012 at 5:20 pm said:

I think I like the warmth of the golden one on top. they are both really interesting. the milk bottle looks almost like a bridge with all the frosty structures it reveals. And then similar lines on the ice surface developing. Cool!

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 5:26 pm said:
  
  Thanks for choosing Karen.. the bottle is covered with netting which is what is making all the lines.. I love the reflected bit in the ice directly below the bottle.
  
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David Hall on January 14, 2012 at 5:28 pm said:

The colour of the ice I think, spoils the fisrt shot so I have to go for the second photo. Would be interesting to see the top bottle transposed to the blue photo. Love the texture of the ice.

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- drawandshoot on January 14, 2012 at 6:02 pm said:
  
  I was thinking that too David, the top bottle on the bottom ice might be sublime!
  
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  - hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 6:23 pm said:
    
    I’ll send you the 2 photos to see if you can do it Karen 😉
- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 6:22 pm said:
  
  Thanks for choosing David… top bottle transposed to blue photo…gawd I can’t do any of that clever stuff ! pretty much just take the photos, might add a bit of contrast or depth of colour and crop sometimes other than that haven’t got a clue 🙂 Unfortunately it was a very thin layer of ice so no real whiteness…supposed to be colder tonight though so might have another look in the morning..
  
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elenacaravela on January 14, 2012 at 7:42 pm said:

An unusual, wonderful find…that bottle on that ice. I agree with Karen. The complementary colors, golden on blue would be otherworldly.

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 7:45 pm said:
  
  Thank you Elena but…Ooooh people keep saying that about the golden and blue… .. I’ll have to see what I can do 😉
  
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MathiasLPhotos on January 14, 2012 at 9:07 pm said:

I agree with Karen and David ! Top bottom with the blue ice 🙂

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 9:11 pm said:
  
  Thanks Mathias !! – The blue one is my favourite but will have to stay the way it is. I’m sure the 2 images could be merged but don’t have a clue how ! I did try to deepen the colour in the blue photo…made the bottle more golden but the blue was waaaaaayyy too blue 😦
  
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  - MathiasLPhotos on January 15, 2012 at 4:58 pm said:
    
    I have to admit that I don’t do this kind of modification … By using Photoshop or The Gimp (or another similar software), you might be able to use the cloning tool if both pictures were taken without moving your camera. Basically you should be able to copy an area from one picture (the bottle in your case) and “paste” it on the other picture.
  - hellenjc on January 15, 2012 at 5:05 pm said:
    
    Neither do I Mathias I take photos for the love of the shot and generally prefer not to change anything much afterwards..
bananabatman on January 14, 2012 at 9:39 pm said:

At times like this, it is sometimes worth looking at B&W as well. Otherwise, I tend to agree that the ice looks good in the second shot, even though it is probably too blue. Just need to warm the bottle a bit. Was it shot in RAW? Could you tweak the White Balance a bit?

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 9:54 pm said:
  
  Thanks David.. I’m going to add another couple…one B&W and one where I’ve tried to tone down the blue ( which was not planned as I said) and tried to make the bottle a little more golden..
  
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scillagrace on January 14, 2012 at 10:01 pm said:

Thought I left a comment earlier, but I don’t see it…I was voting for the 2nd one because the blue says “cold” to me so strongly…and I like the lacy edge of ice it brings out.

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 10:07 pm said:
  
  Thank you Scilla.. You’ll see I’ve added another couple in response to comments… the B&W doesn’t work for me in this instance though I usually really like B&W… I love the blue one too but the more I look at them the more I like the original top one which was what caught my eye in the first place ..
  
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Lisa on January 14, 2012 at 11:49 pm said:

I like the second one Helen, lovely capture x

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- hellenjc on January 14, 2012 at 11:53 pm said:
  
  Thankyou Lisa..
  
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Steve Clark on January 15, 2012 at 10:16 am said:

The first one, with the golden glow and without the blue cast works best for me but I suppose it is a personal thing>

Nice pics, though, both of them.

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- hellenjc on January 15, 2012 at 11:29 am said:
  
  It is, of course, a personal thing Steve and I keep swinging between 1st and 2nd 🙂
  
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mostlymonochrome on January 15, 2012 at 2:28 pm said:

I prefer the first shot. The ice looks the wrong colour in the others, and unusually for me, I don’t think monochrome suits this shot.

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hellenjc on January 15, 2012 at 2:43 pm said:

Thank you MM.. I agree with you about B&W just doesn’t work…you need the glowingness of the straw under the bottle..

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Anonymous on January 15, 2012 at 4:42 pm said:

i like the blue looks like someone living inside

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- hellenjc on January 15, 2012 at 4:45 pm said:
  
  OH! you mean like the Borrowers.. I hadn’t thought of that Mary (anonymous) Like a house with the lights on…what a great thought!
  
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urbanbuda on January 15, 2012 at 5:59 pm said:

I like the first one with the golden bottle.

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- hellenjc on January 15, 2012 at 6:00 pm said:
  
  Thank you UrbanBuda..
  
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kristasta on January 16, 2012 at 5:27 pm said:

I like the original gold one! 🙂

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- hellenjc on January 16, 2012 at 5:39 pm said:
  
  Thank you Kristasta… I think I do now too 🙂
  
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Louis on January 21, 2012 at 3:38 pm said:

My vote is for the first. The bottle is the main centre of interest and the backlighting effect adds to that interest. I like the lines breaking up what could have been very plain background.

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Tilly Bud on February 5, 2012 at 10:55 am said:

Wow! What a great shot!

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- hellenjc on February 5, 2012 at 11:31 am said:
  
  Thank you Tilly. I’m glad you like it 🙂
  
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