EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Being the rainbow lover that I am, when I reserved my timed-entry ticket for the Tower Hill Prismatic, an Orchid Exhibition, I was expecting to focus primarily on prisms and rainbows, and a bit on orchids.
I scheduled my visit for Valentine’s Day morning, hoping it would not be crowded, as it was forecast to be extremely cold. It was a “life is good” date with my camera… a date to do what I love and love what I do.
Cold-hearted Mother Nature
When I got out of my car, I quickly realized the Arctic-like chill would keep me from getting many outdoor pix. I grabbed a few shots of Mount Wachusett (and a Mount Wachusett wannabe!) from the gazebo area then went with the flow of the wind, as it swept me toward the main entrance.
Color me Kaleidoscopic
Once inside, I was greeted by a rainbow-wrapped hallway that led me to the orchid exhibit.
Are you like me and get all excited when you see a prismatic rainbow in your home because the sun was shining through the window just right to refract the light? I feel like a little kid sometimes.
Anyway, I made sure my camera was all set up and ready to go. I didn’t bring my macro lens for the flowers because I knew I wanted to focus on the prisms. So, I pulled out my Nikon D850 with its 24-70mm lens begging me to invite all the colors in.
First stop was the hallway windows. It was a cloudy midday, so the rainbow reflections weren’t that great. But, my eye was drawn to the quartets of color, as I made my way to the orchids. Each foursome was glowing with prismatic colors.
On my left was a colorful, interactive yarn display with the threads wending this way and that. While the sign invited me to add to it, I was a bit chagrined and chose not to, as Covid was top of mind.
I entered the orchid room and did several laps to make sure I absorbed all the color. I even got an unexpected selfie.
reflective selfie
It’s so fun to see Tower Hill in each season, as there is always something new to notice. Saturated prism hues enveloped the room, as if giving the orchids a warm hug.
Here’s the Unexpected
My favorite photos from my outing aren’t of the prisms and one is black-and-white. Whaaaat?
Yup. When I did my lap around the orchid area, I landed in a hallway with strung lights. They were pretty as is and added a dose of prismatic color.
But, it was Valentine’s Day and my camera asked me to make a move.
I got all excited, as I started to take some pix using Intentional Camera Movement, which is exactly what it sounds like. You take a picture while intentionally moving your camera. Wow! Did I have some fun.
What is Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)?
ICM is when a camera is moved during the exposure for a creative or artistic effect. This produces an apparent streaking in the resulting image.
Things to note:
The process involves a slow shutter speed and an aperture setting that will let in enough light, but not too much. Generally, a shutter speed of 1/3, 1/2, or 1/8 of a second will work well.
If light levels are high, a neutral density or polarizer filter might help.
Set the camera's ISO setting to 100, as this reduces the camera's sensitivity to light and gives the slowest possible shutter speed.
It’s all about experimenting.
Move the camera in any direction, slow or fast. You can also zoom in and out.
I first discovered ICM years ago when at Christmas time Kaleigh and I kept zooming our lens in and out while taking pix of the tree lights. It was amazing! We made some ornaments using those crazy light images.
ICM Christmas tree lights ornament
It was fun to capture some ICM shots at Tower Hill. I had no intention of doing so when I planned my outing. Lesson: expect the unexpected!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the hearts.
As I was getting ready to leave the orchid room, I did a double-take. A string of heart-shaped leaves caught my eye. C’mon. Hearts and rainbows on Valentine’s Day? I was happy, happy.
As you cycle through my images from that day, you’ll notice I had some fun with edits. One of my favorites is the black-and-white reflection shot. It’s fun to try different things with images.
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