Hazel catkins and pollen

[John Robinson]

This is one from the archives. Makes a change
It was done on Ecktachrome 100 and recently scanned.
Taken in 1971 -ish ! Cany remember techs. Except Mamiya 645
-two small flashes rear -one on camera. Twig taped to front of a box lined with black felt. Elastic band fixed to base of twig. Tensioned then 1,2,3-twang and take pic with cable release. Usually works till twig (catkins ) run out of pollen Usally about three twangs.
!
Cheers
JohnR

[David Kenny]

John,

Very cool photo. I like the Idea. Good work freezing the pollen with the flashes. Makes me look forward to the upcoming allergy season here in the states.

- Dave

[Diane Miller]

Very nice! Would be fun to redo with digital.

[Mitch Haimov]

Great idea and very cool result! I wish the edges of the twig were not so bright, but I'm not sure there was much you could have done about that while exposing the pods and pollen properly.

[John Robinson]

Thanks all.
Mitch- good point- I can workon that I reckon.
Cheers
John

[Steve Maxson]

Hi John. Very creative and nicely done - especially for film over 40 years ago. I might wish for just a bit more room at the top such that the stems of the central catkins didn't appear cut off. This would be fun to redo with digital to tweak the flash settings and see if you could produce something even better.

[John Robinson]

Thanks all.
Steve at my time of life I have.nt the energy to start again. It cost so much in film in those days I,m still paying for it !!!!!
Cheers
John

[Steve Maxson]

It cost so much in film in those days I,m still paying for it !!!!!
Cheers
John

I hear you John! As a former film shooter, I can feel your pain!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi John, did the same myself in the 80's I tapped the twig with a pencil and fired the camera using a cable release.
Good result slightly burnt out here and there but very difficult not to.

[John Robinson]

Thanks all.
Jon- my method was a little more complicated !!!! I'lltell you about it some time. !!
Cheers
John

[Jerry van Dijk]

Awesome, John! Given all the difficulties with film over digital, I'm extra impressed by the quality of this image. I would try toning down the highlights in the image, especially on the pollen on the right. That bright spot keeps pulling my eye away from the rest of the image. Easy fix to a fantastic image. Well done!

[Jerry van Dijk]

I took the liberty to try out my own suggestion . I toned down the highlights with the S/H tool in PS, just the default setting. Then I took the image into ACR to be able to use the local adjustment brush and reduced exposure, added clarity and sharpness and a slight bit of saturation (to get the green color back after the adjustments) to the puff of pollen on the right.
Hope you don't mind me fiddling with your image.