Day 8: Light
Let's start the 2nd week with an abstract object (obviously a tangible one as well). Light, lamps, power, candles, warmth, weight, and so on. Oh, and before you read more: this is a challenge that I started and if you want to join; click here for the not-so-ordinary ordinary items challenge. Without further delay, let's talk a bit about light.
Lights
Every day, we use light. If you wake up to Sunlight or try to work deep in the night. Light is quite an abstract subject if you think about it. As a photographer, I have been studying and experimenting with lights for quite a bit. It's just particles that bounce and reflect on other surfaces, which is incredibly interesting, isn't it? I am 100% certain that @lemouth can tell you a lot more about the science behind it (and can explain it way better than I ever could). Why is it, that our eyes require lights to see? Why can't we see without the presence of light? I understand that we can't, I'm just expressing a thought.
Comforting mood
I don't mind requiring a light source. I have a few Philips Hue lights that create amazing cozy rooms with ambient colored lights. It puts you in a kind of mood. And with the right mood, you might unlock a part of your brain to excel in something that you're focusing on. It's like one of those +5 to Agility rings that you can find in World of Warcraft; increased stats. At least, that's what I tend to believe. If you're having a bad day, I bet you get very little done, compared to when you feel great or happy.
It's one of the reasons why I enjoy working from home. I used to work in the middle of the night because it was so quiet and relaxed. Now, I'm just working because otherwise, @lackofcolor will constantly talk to me, so I just pretend to work sometimes (just kidding). She actually motivates me to get stuff done. It's like; I can do the same things now, but now I can share it with someone I care about. That's why I think it is important to always be in the right mood. Philips Hue lights do that to me.
Obviously not just Philips Hue (not an affiliate), but also awesome old-school/vintage-looking light bulbs. We got 2 of these huge bulbs. I bet for @lackofcolor; candlelight is a huge amplifier for her. I don't give much thought to candlelights, but sometimes I put them on for her because I know she likes them.
Well, isn't that powerful? Simple (or modern) lights can have an impact on you. I don't even have to talk about how important daylight is for us, right? I hope I don't. In 2018 I literally had to drag myself outside to see some light when I was in utter darkness myself. Trust me, it is important to see the Sun (or get a 5200K daylight lamp, "should" work as well).
Power
Speaking of power. When I was young, I remember that there was a commercial on television stating that we all should stop using Halogen lights and replace them with something new. I'm NOT entirely sure if it was LED (I don't know what lights we used before LEDs) or traditional lightbulbs (gloeilamp iemand?). Do you know what's funny? The technology existed since 1962! How come we started using it 30-40 years later? Of course.. money; which is another way to showcase the power of lights, and uhm.. power!
But that wasn't the power I was thinking about. The electric use of light bulbs, or the power generated when using candles (or Sunlight). Doesn't it make you curious that we first generated power by using candlelights, and now have to consume power to light our houses? Even though LEDs are supposed to consume less energy, the (electric) power bills are spiking here in the Netherlands.
I completely understand that gas prices are going through the roof, to some certain extent. But electricity? Why is that going through the roof as well? Aren't we -generating- much more than a decade ago? Power... Indeed. We consume. We don't generate (not you; solar panel folks).
Grateful
I'm grateful for living in the Netherlands. Where "having access to power" is mundane. It is ridiculous how spoiled we are here. I don't even want to think about other countries.
The creative process
I love macro photographs of light bulbs. The only downside is that you have to clean very well, and even if you did that, you have a lot chance that there will be dust inside the bulb itself. The key for this photograph is to have the entire room in complete darkness, so you won't see any other reflection (of light) other than the one that you're photographing. Once you do this; take a look around, take a few seconds to be in that moment, and realize what we have. Let's photograph this bulb, and let it shine even brighter.
Technical details
Camera
Sony A7 MARK II
Lens
Sigma 105mm f/2.8
Shutterspeed
0.4"
Aperture
f/10.0
ISO
200
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 would you do if you had no access to power?
I think this is a great question to end this blog post with. Especially since most of us have access to power. Honestly, I would not have a clue what to do without power. I would go to my parents or Lackofcolor's parents. If they don't have power; I have no idea what else to do. What would you do?
Cheers,
Ruben
Come to Cuba Rubén, here we don't use Power 🤭 Why? Well we spent more than 5h at day in electrical blackouts, however our electricity bills are skyrocketing, we don't know why neither 😂.
Sometimes when we are in those blackout, especially at night, we use candles and to see the bright side, its kind a romantic.
Love your pic and your way to tell stories.
Lol for a second I thought you meant you don't use power cos you're using something else like new technology or something 🤣 That sucks tho!
We wish 😂😂 but no 😭 hey... Yet we laugh at our own problems and try to make life as joyful as possible. Spaces like Hive help us to escape.
True! We also laugh at our own hahah
Oh dang, that sounds challenging. That would be both a blessing and a struggle at the same time. Having something else to do that doesn't require power (and at the same time cursing at it for not working xD). I think it sounds nice, but in practice, it may be a bit more frustrating until you're used to it, right?
Thank you ^^
It's frustrating but, those days you take a break from work and everything. We have hammocks at home, and on blackout nights, we go to the backyard to sleep in them, talk and wait. We enjoy the stars and fight the mosquitoes.
But yes, it has its two sides, and if you get used to it, then you take it as something normal, you even adapt your life to the times when you have electricity to work and do housework.
Cool! Those dust look nice in the sides anyway, shows the shape of the glass nicely. :D
Thanks Vyyy, the dust was actually something that bothered me! It's always interesting seeing how different we can look at things, right? You have a good point, I'm trying to picture the lamp without the dust, and I think it would be a lot more boring to look at if it wasn't there.
Yaahh! I could imagine it would be a very new bulb without the dust and also the shape of the glass won't be that obvious :D
I wanna light you up with comments but the fact is, you’re asleep at the moment. I had to work at the crack of dawn and didn’t have a post finished.
I like how you reflect on the absence/presence of the item. It’s giving me something to think about.
Look, these photos fascinated me. I can see that the debate on electricity power in Cuba was interesting. Do it, experience that. Disconnect everything every 6 hours as if the power was turned off and wait 8 or 10 hours to get power back on. And so on... repeat the cycle... 😆😆😆
Sorry for the delay in commenting, it was a difficult day. Let's get on with the challenge.
I will soon send you your Hive... LOL
Ohoo, I understand what you're saying with difficult day, the challenge is for 1/3rd completed, but we must carry on! I too have trouble to manage the time as I think we all have more things to do than just the challenge, right? So, don't worry about not commenting, or being "late", sometimes I receive comments a year later :D all is good.
I received the HIVE, and I powered you up with that HIVE.
😅📸
That HIVE is like a lucky coin. Look at it this way. 😆
I understood how important light is as I lose it from my eyes, I have galucoma and every day at dusk I feel I fall into darkness.
Interesting about the light bulbs, I didn't know that daylight bulbs existed, your photos are spectacular, beautiful, thanks for the photography tips, I didn't imagine that everything had to be dark to take these photos, I'll try it. Thank you. @rubencress