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chromasia.com

It's a while since I took a shot of the world's largest mirror ball (my previous shots are here and here) and as neither of my previous attempts have included the whole ball I thought I'd put this one up.

As for how this was processed: basically this is almost a straight shot, but I did drop the brightness of the sky, increased the overall saturation, and upped the contrast a little. What I particularly like is the contrast between the drab greyness of the sky in the background and the reflected blue sky and clouds in the ball.

Update: Having just taken a look at Jon's latest entry I thought I might as well join in and submit this shot to this week's Photo Friday challenge – Radiant – as, like him, I don't expect to see too many radiant skies over the coming months.

capture date
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
cropped?
3.58pm on 9/11/04
Canon 20D
EF 70-200 f/4L USM
200mm (320mm equiv.)
f/4.0
1/320
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
100
no
RAW
no
 
3x2 + fylde coast [scenic] + photo friday
comment by tristan at 11:41 PM (GMT) on 9 November, 2004

cool! very trippy.

i like how the sky in the reflection is blue but not in the frame behind. the human figures adds a real sense of scale.

comment by nancy at 11:43 PM (GMT) on 9 November, 2004

Oooh, a large lollipop! What a cool thing and great photo subject. I liked the diference in saturation between the two

comment by kyle at 11:44 PM (GMT) on 9 November, 2004

The ball looks ultrasharpened due to the tiny grid, while the rest is left "soft". A very neat contrast. Catching the sky like this was lucky! Blue behind you, and grey in front.

comment by Daaave at 11:49 PM (GMT) on 9 November, 2004

That's massive! I like the pixelated look of the reflection on the ball. Cool.

comment by Etan at 12:15 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Can you put up the original? I am just confused as to why the sky is grey but reflected as blue.

comment by djn1 at 12:24 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Etan: I can't put up the original at the moment as I'm uploading a load of files and don't want to interrupt it. To answer your question though: the sky directly ahead of me (i.e. behind the ball) was grey and cloudy, while overhead and behind me it was blue. I know this looks a bit like PS trickery, but it isn't, honest :-)

comment by Jarod at 01:12 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

I assume the surface of the ball is multifaceted like a disco ball? The reflection off of it looks pixelated. Looks very sci-fi.

comment by djn1 at 01:28 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Jarod: yes, this is like a disco ball. Apparently there are around 47,000 separate mirrors.

comment by Alec Long [Shutter And Pupil] at 03:24 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Neato. (Can I say "neato" these days without being labeled a dork?)

Very nice, Dave.

This looks very close to where you shot your stunning "more tea?"

comment by peterv at 06:30 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Yes. A great composition, and very radiant the way the sky to the RH side is lighter. I also like the 3 people caught in a triangle of conversation.

You must have better weather in Blackpool than the rest of us -it's been grey grey grey in the Midlands.

comment by P at 07:01 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

i love this one! the mirrored ball looks as i might imagine a portal to another dimension would look. nice work!

comment by Russ at 07:42 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Fantastic! I like how the clouds have created a second horizon line that matches the horizon in the relection and adds to the feeling of " PS trickery". Well done!

comment by djlight at 09:22 AM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Great work, great the effect of the blue sky into the mirror ball, it make a nice contrast with the "original sky".
Matteo, djlight
See my photoblog at djlight.net

comment by phule at 08:11 PM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Have you seen Sky Gate at Chicago's new Millennium Park? It's an amazingly huge reflective bean! :)

comment by Ali at 08:53 PM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

W O N D E R F U L :-)

Especially the subject

comment by djn1 at 08:55 PM (GMT) on 10 November, 2004

Thanks everyone.

Alec: yes, it's close to where I shot 'more tea?'.

phule: no, I've not been to Chicago. The only places I've visited in the States are New York (very briefly), Washington DC, Indianapolis, and Baltimore.

comment by Ragnar at 09:51 AM (GMT) on 11 November, 2004

Really nice picture!

comment by Turfdigger at 06:40 PM (GMT) on 11 November, 2004

What fortunate weather for this shot - I would have sworn that there was some post-processing involved. That mirror ball looks illuminated from within.

comment by Sofia at 07:27 AM (GMT) on 12 November, 2004

That's really cool. never seen anything like that. i like how you can see the division of the sky and the ground.