When I was with Olga on Hampstead Heath on Saturday, I found this piece of glass protruding from the ground. The smooth round bottom edge was all that was visible, so I hoped it was an intact bottle or something interesting -- and was bummed to find it was just a broken hunk o' glass. I put it in my bag to bring home and recycle.
When I got home, though, I realized it's a very clear hunk o' glass, and also very thick. It's definitely not from a bottle. Maybe it's the bottom of a vase? Or a beer glass from a pub?
A friend of mine often takes experimental pictures through pieces of glass or prisms and posts the results on Instagram. I realized my hunk o'glass was so clear that it could be used for the same purpose.
I found that I had to take the pictures using my phone. Trying to do it with my big Canon SLR was just impossible -- it was too hard to hold the glass with one hand and the camera with the other and operate the focus ring and settings. I'd have needed four arms. Thank goodness for the simplicity of the iPhone camera!
It makes a pretty decent frame for images, doesn't it?
Am I bored, sitting at home in the age of coronavirus? Maybe.
Anyway, after having my camera fun I put the hunk o' glass in the recycling bin. Then, yesterday, Dave and I made a third and final stepping stone for the garden, and I thought, "Hey! Include the hunk o' glass!"
So I did:
It sticks up about a quarter of an inch from the surface of the stone. Hopefully it won't be a trip hazard! That would be counterproductive, wouldn't it?
By the way, that depression on the left side of the new stone is Olga's paw print. She wasn't particularly thrilled about the process but we finally got her to participate. Now we'll let the final stone cure for a couple of days and we'll install them this weekend, hunk o' glass and all!
The daffodil photo is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJust caught up with a couple of previous posts I had missed. We have a fox coming regularly to the garden...in fact I think it might be residing next door, at the bottom of their " garden" which is just a totally overgrown mess. Alexi spends a lot of time with just his backside poking out of the hedge between us ( there is also a wire fence on their side). Yesterday morning we caught Mr or Mrs Fox digging in my pots like a squirrel. The tiny heucheras that I had transplanted had been totally uprooted!
An interesting experiment. I think the picture in your lounge with Olga on the floor is the best one. Nice to see that the first two paving stones are just about cured. They look pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom of a glass..and it gave almost a fish eye lens effect.
ReplyDeleteNice experiment with the glass. You should do that more often says she who can't seem to connect her email and phone and cannot take photos...
ReplyDeleteI love your creativity! The photos through the glass are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like those photos with the hunk o glass! The one with Olga caught my eye. And what a neat idea to include it in a stepping stone!
ReplyDeleteLove the birds-eye photo of Olga in the lounge. The drying stepping stones are turning out nicely, too. Look forward to seeing them all laid out.
ReplyDeleteThe dried stones look fabulous! Maybe set the hunk of glass side of the stone a little to the side or it may well be a tripper. How great that you included it, and Olga's paw print, though.
ReplyDeleteThe Olga photo is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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What an interesting find and what an interesting use of it! The Olga picture is really lovely but then again, so is the daffodil.
ReplyDeleteI'm in favour of the hunk of glass photography too. Alas, it's now set in stone, so to speak, so what we've seen is maybe all we'll get. :)
ReplyDeleteAlphie
Outstanding Pub Pint Photos - Congrats On The Olga Print - Well Done Boys - Well Done
ReplyDeleteCheers
Love those photos! What a grand idea to shoot through that piece of glass.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you need another cool project to keep you going through our time of "incarceration"
ReplyDeleteYou've put that piece of glass to good use. I love all these photos. I'm glad you added it to the stepping stone.
ReplyDeleteYes, you ARE bored. But at least you're being creative.
ReplyDeleteOops, about the article on masks from the previous post! As you can tell, I didn't notice your link - I try to always read links on things I'm going to comment on. The thinking on masks is still evolving in the news today, I see.
ReplyDeleteThe photos through the glass are beautiful. The glass looks kind of like water surrounding the subjects. And the refraction of colours reminds me of a kaleidoscope, especially effective in the Olga picture.
We use our stepping stones as decorations, not as literal stepping stones; if you do that there would be no worry about tripping. Yours look attractive and make a nice set.
Great photos through the glass. It's so nice that you have the Heath to provide you with entertainment. We're a little short on that at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI love those photos! I've already been playing with the Waterlogue app - maybe now I'll try the glass photo idea. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFascinating photos from using the clear glass hunk. I haven't tried that. Hmmmm. Somewhere I have a whole set of awesome filters for my old Polaroid camera. I had so much using them back in the day. You stay safe and have a good day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeletehunk of glass is wonderful for the photos you have taken, I think I may have kept it for that purpose. My favorite is Olga sleeping in the sunshine pouring through your window! Beautiful!
ReplyDeletegreat photos through the hunk of glass. my daughter and grandkids made stepping stones for me for my 60th birthday using plastic insects and marbles and other glass things and just stuff. 10 years later about half the stuff has come off.
ReplyDeleteI think we are all seeing the world through a magnified lens now. Of course it is not the first time some of us has viewed our world through the bottom of a glass.
ReplyDeleteFrances: Are you using bone meal as a fertilizer when you plant, by any chance? We used bone meal one season and the foxes were just OBSESSED with digging up our plants. Never tried that again!
ReplyDeleteYP: They look better than I thought they would. The paler color is definitely nicer than the dark gray wet cement.
GZ: Yeah, it is kind of a fish-eye! (Much cheaper!)
E: Ha! I'll find something else to play around with photographically, I'm sure.
Mitchell: Thanks! Creativity borne of desperation. :)
Jennifer: Well, hopefully it will work well in the stone and not become an obstacle.
Mary: We'll probably put them out this weekend. They should be plenty dry by then.
37P: Yeah, I've been thinking about how to put out the stones so the glass is in a less-trafficked area!
Briony: Mine too!
Ms Moon: The daffodil fits the circular shape of the frame. That was my thinking, anyway.
Alphie: Yeah, this was a transient experiment! You'll see more bizarre shots here from time to time, though, I'm sure.
Padre: Olga was NOT thrilled with the wet paw but it turned out pretty well! (Better than it looks in the photo.)
Robin: Thank you!
Red: Oh, I'll come up with more, I'm sure.
Sharon: Yeah, I'm glad we kept it rather than recycling it.
Catalyst: Trying!
Jenny-O: Yeah, we could just set these out somewhere and NOT step on them, I guess. But I'd really like them to be functional. We need some stones right off our patio where it gets muddy in the winter.
Allison: I am so thankful the Heath is nearby. But you have all those amazing mountain trails! Can you still walk those, or are they closed now?
Bug: I saw your Waterlogue photo! Nice!
Edna: You should dig out those filters. I bet you could use them with your camera now!
Linda Sue: I think I'd have gotten tired of it pretty quickly -- but it was a fun experiment.
Ellen: Yeah, I'm not sure how well ours are going to wear. We'll see.
Penelope: Funny you should say that -- I mentioned drinking in today's post! (The one after this one.)