Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows

Photography makes me forget the world around me

I told you the day before yesterday that I had NO focus. And yesterday that I was TOO much focused…

Another big contradiction that occurs more often, only yesterday it almost ended wrong. I know from myself that if I'm really serious about shooting and I have my focus on what I'm doing, it seems like the world around me doesn't exist. I can then completely lose myself in what I am doing. And that is usually very good, it gives me a relaxed feeling and I am just doing photography. Just a moment for myself.

Because as much as I love my dogs, sometimes I really need a moment for myself, and photography makes me forget the world around me, and gives me that moment for myself. At least if I don't take pictures of the dogs as is often the case.

Yesterday it was time to photograph Lavender. And as I described yesterday in my blog, the scent of Lavender alone has a calming effect. And the scent of Lavender is also a very strong fragrance. It was therefore no surprise that I quickly felt myself relaxed. And my focus was very strong. I was only busy with my camera, with the Lavender, and taking the pictures I wanted to take.

Although the dogs were of course close by because they are never far from me. And sometimes it happens that a dog walks between the legs of my tripod to let them know that they are there and that they want attention.

The setup that I always make when I want to do something like this is that I take a black high-gloss door from an old dresser. I put that on the electric stove and place the objects I want to photograph on it. Why there? Because there I can easily get the background completely black if I want to. I only have to play with my lighting, the ambient light is minimal, the place is at a good height ... AND, well ... I once started and I just liked it. Why change something that pleases you AND gives good results?

This is how my setup looks like, and the image on top of my post is an example I made with that setup earlier on.

Why change something that pleases you and gives good results?

And there I ask a good question… because yesterday something happened that I did not expect. And what makes it very necessary to NEVER use this approach again.

While photographing the wonderfully scented Lavender, the dogs walked through the legs of my tripod a few times, I myself worked on the tripod to adjust it to find the right angle. Even though I have the headset on the tripod, you really have to adjust the height with the legs, and in addition, I need to play very close with the legs of the tripod to get my camera closer to my subject, which is needed again if I want to make a close up ...

I even started to feel light-headed.

Fun play, which requires a good focus to get the result you want. And because I was so focused, I did not notice that the button of the electric stove was turned on! I really have no clue how. Since we have an electric stove, just turning the knob is enough to turn the plate on. I seriously have no idea how long the stove has been on ... but suddenly I got a moment when I thought; "The Lavender scent rises to my head or something", although I thought it was a strange smell. My focus was really so much on that lavender that I didn't even consciously register that it was a very strange smell, which was absolutely not from the lavender. So I just went on shooting, but the smell got stronger and stronger ... Until I even felt light-headed.

It was only then that I realized that it was not the lavender I smelled, but something was not right. Irritated that I was taken out of focus, I looked up and searched for the cause of what I smelled.

Thick white smoke

And I had found that very quickly once I looked up. A thick white smoke curled under my plate into the kitchen. And the stench I smelled clearly came from there. Only then did I see that the button of the electric stove was turned on. I immediately turned it off, but that did not solve the problem because such a plate takes a long time to cool down.

I have never before put my camera aside so quickly without looking. The only thing I paid attention to was that he could not fall over, then grabbed oven mitts as quickly as I could, lifted that now red-hot plate off the plate and carried it outside. the extractor hood on, all windows and doors open ... and well, spent the rest of the day cleaning the kitchen.

It could have ended much worse

Anyway I can't complain! It was only today that I realized it could have ended much worse. It was very close if there had really been a fire. It could also have been if I realized / registered even later that I and the dogs could have gotten smoke poisoning. So despite all the misery I am glad that nothing worse has happened, that I noticed it in time ... AND that I was satisfied with my Lavender photos when I finally left them to view late last night.

Safety and health are really more important

This was of course the last time I did this. Yesterday I learned a lesson again, and now to make sure this cannot happen again, I decided to look for a photocube. Although I do have to start looking for a way to create a beautiful reflection in my photo, because that's exactly why I loved the black high-gloss so much as a surface ... But well, safety and health are really more important, and that is why I will be saying goodbye to the high-gloss today and will be looking for the photocube. Creating reflection becomes a new thing.