Day 21: Dust to dust
Oi!
Today is the day... my secret indestructible object, the one that never failed to disappoint me in dire times. It's time for some micro-cleaning. Yeah, that's right! You probably have been wondering how I get my stuff so clean and so fresh, huh? Well, this rocket is going to blow your mind. Literally, well, maybe not your mind, but it's going to blow some objects. I see these particles going places. I'm going to hit them with < inhale > gravity. Pump it. Aim... and...!!!!!!! < exhale/fail>
... yeah, it's just going to be a blog post about my Dust blower ~ plays some sad music~. Now would be the time to mention I got this one for free, and everything that's free, is a-ma-zunggg, right? Especially if you've been using it for a whopping e-e-e-e-eleven years years years.
Blow me
It's all about presentation folks. Trust me, I'm verified. A dust blower is a brilliant tool, not just for photographers, but also for people who want to keep their technical belongings clean and dust-free. Actually, every time you want to clean up dusty areas that are difficult to get to, this tool is the tool to use.
Simplicity
The design of the dust blower is simple but very efficient. Its use is also pretty straightforward. You squeeze the dust blower and it returns the favor with pumped air in the direction where you point it at. Even kids like to play with them, or you can loosen them up before you have to photograph them. Which can be a pain sometimes, as they need to be entertained quite a lot before they get bored of waiting.
The material
The object mainly is manufactured with silicone rubber and plastic. The rubber is robust and sturdy, which makes it durable. The plastic is rarely touched and is rarely in contact with stuff that might damage it. And even if it is touched, the rubber provides enough flexibility to bend the knee. It is no surprise that I have had this object for over 11 years and I can already tell you that it will last longer than me. Even though I got this for free when I purchased my first Canon 5D Mark II, the price of this thing is around 10 bucks.
Value
This object has allowed me to easily clean up my lenses without direct contact, as dust -may- leave scratches on the high-quality glass the lenses offer. Buying one to keep your lenses clean and therefore, undamaged is a no-brainer. Because it is so easy and comfortable to use, I have it with me all of the time, and most of the time, it is within arm's reach.
The Rocket
I don't know why, but I always remember calling it the rocket. Most probably due to its looks. I thought the brand named this dust blower the rocket, but I wasn't sure anymore after googling for a dust blower. -update- After consulting Google, it is still called the Rocket Dustblower at some webshops.
The creative process
Because I thought it looked like a rocket, and it is named a rocket, I thought of using the orange/red colors, and the opposite color to enhance the contrast of the final image. Usually, this is something I did during post-edit. But... again... thanks to the Philips HUE lights, this is done more easier and more realistically. The downside is that it requires either a high ISO or a tripod. In this case, since the object is so small, and I was too lazy to set up an entire studio to photograph this, I went for the higher ISO, already thinking about applying additional noise to blend in everything nicely.
I used an old photo frame, filled with dust, as the dust blower is linked with removing dust. This may not be something that you notice directly, but if you look closer at the image, you do see the dust particles beneath the rocket.
Technical details
Camera
Sony A7 MARK II
Lens
Sigma 105mm f/2.8
Shutterspeed
1/250
Aperture
f/2.8
ISO
250
About the challenge
Photograph and write a little bit about 30 ordinary items that I used a lot in 2022. You can read more about the challenge, and join yourself here. This challenge is just a little experiment.
What is your most helpful tool?
This may be the most helpful tool for me as a photographer. I use it to clean my keyboard, mouse, desktop, or old retrieved objects I found while cleaning up boxes. It blows with strength, so it can remove dust quite easily, while using other harder objects may even cause damage. The dust blower is my first pick to clean thoroughly, I've used this object even to prepare for photographing most of the objects of this challenge. Do you have a helpful tool?
Cheers,
Ruben
Ruben... Are you going back in time? Did you go to the past in a cloud of dust?
Maybe he did. Who knows?
But would there be Hive for him to publish this if he did? 😃
It surely did illustrate the countless amount of times when I had to clean my lenses and camera censor, plus all the other items that I cleaned with it.
Oh. So the clouds of dust is your friend..... 🙃
All it takes is to take a deep look at things to be able to travel (at least in time) :)
Haha oops! I just realized that I said it was day 17 instead of 21. Corrected it now :D
Oh my... but you hadn't realised yet 😂 and why did you think I was telling you about going back in time????? 😆
Haha yeah, I realized it at the end of the day :P
Well.. now, you made me desire to have a dust blower too 🥺... Maybe one that I can own for 11 years too.... Hehehehe. Thanks for sharing.
It's not that expensive, and it is super convenient! :)
I'll think about it then. No rush 🙌
the never ending fight against dust bunnies 🐰
It must have something to do with the electric attraction that dust has :p
I have a useful tool in my brain and it is called a screw, sometimes I tighten it, but as the days go by it loosens again... What do you think?
😆
Ruben the days are getting very strange, too many things to do outside the house, and I don't like that at this time of the year. Here people fall ill frequently and they say there is another variant of Covid. This is really worrying.
I had no idea what that was, until I read on of course. It defintiely, is rocket like that's for sure. Seems like a very important tool for you to have xxxx