Visual ambiguity

click photo to enlarge

I've said elsewhere in this blog that visual ambiguity is something in which I take particular delight. Whether it be reflections, selections, juxtapositions or angles, the ability of the camera to present the everyday and ordinary as uncommon and extraordinary is something that holds a great attraction for me. The semi-abstract shots that I periodically take, many of which are visually ambiguous, make up a large percentage of my personal favourites.

Another way in which ambiguity can be achieved is through the use of a macro lens. This can transform a close-up view of a quite familiar subject into something strange or puzzling. Take today's photograph. At first glance it looks like a bubbling liquid, perhaps an industrial oil or maybe the scum on some molten metal. In fact, it is a long forgotten toy that belongs to one of my sons, a set of ball bearings of three sizes that can be arranged on a magnetic base. I came across it when we were tidying out some stored boxes. I'd not seen it before, but when I looked at it I knew that it could be the subject of a photograph.

I set it up on my desk at dusk on some black card and pointed my anglepoise lamp down at it. The single light source formed a large single reflection on each ball bearing, but this became multiplied as the bottom half of each of them reflected its neighbours. It's this phenomenon that gives the photograph the appearance of bubbles and the resulting ambiguity.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Acer, Amazon, ambiguity and trees

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Say the word "Acer" to the average young person and they are likely to bring to mind a shiny notebook computer, the product of Acer Inc., a Taiwan-based multinational electronics company. It's surprising how quickly such associations take hold. Consider "Amazon". Once it referred only to the South American river of that name. However, today, for many people, it is firstly the internet retailer, and only secondly a geographical feature.

That said, the word acer means more than one thing for people like me who see it as the name of a variety of tree. It is actually descriptive of the species known as the maple. But, whilst gardeners think of the ornamental tree with copper, green, red, orange or yellow leaves (a variety represented in today's photograph), others know it as the maple that produces the North American syrup, yet others as the Norway Maple of Europe whose wood has commercial uses, whilst some foresters (including those in Britain) see it as the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), an invasive tree that is something of a woodland weed.

My garden has two ornamental acers: one with light green leaves that is thriving, and another with copper leaves that was hit so hard by the long, deep freeze of last winter that I had to cut dead parts off it, and it now grows as a squat, mis-shapen thing, not much of an asset to its rockery location. A sycamore grows just over my garden boundary, and true to its type it is prolific. Every autumn its "helicopter" seeds whirl down onto my vegetable garden, lawn and borders. Then, in spring, it seems that every single one takes root in an attempt to grow a forest around its parent. The mower deals with those in the lawn, but the rest need hoeing. And, try as we might to get each seedling, there are always a few that elude us and become established.

I took today's photograph when the leaves of this ornamental tree were at their best under a bright but cloudy sky. The fresh yellow/green really stands out in the garden, but over the next couple of months it will tone down to a deeper green until, in autumn, it changes hue once more. The word "acer" comes from the Latin and means "sharp" (as well as keen, eager, severe and fierce): in this case referring to the pointed shape of the genus' leaves.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On