chunter | photoblog » Rain Cups

09 May 2008 • 1294 views

Rain Cups

These are little brass cups on springy stalks designed to capture the rain and sway in the wind. When they collide they tinkle like wind chimes. Well, that's the theory, but it doesn't work!

Even so, they caught my eye when I was looking for Canon fodder and so I shot them with a 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS zoom that I was testing prior to a forthcoming trip to Vancouver. I'm looking for excuses not to take the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS, which is monstrously heavy, and on the strength of this picture, and one or two others, I think I can safely leave the heavyweight behind in favour of the much smaller and lighter lens.

With a 2x TelePlus converter attached and mounted on the EOS 10D with 1.6x zoom factor, I have the equivalent of 960mm, so beware: I can probably see you from here!

camera	Canon EOS 10D
exposure mode	full manual
shutterspeed	1/250s
aperture	f/5.6
sensitivity	ISO100
focal length	280.0mm
resolution	1024x718 pixels

Rain Cups

comments (7)

Astrid

The Netherlands

9 May 2008, 11:52

Colin, even the water cups don't work...this picture works for me, I just love the DOF, it almost looks like 'speed' he brass colour of the cups are just great.
Please enjoy your trip to Vancouver, I was there once a long time ago..it is beautiful there.

chunter: The splash of red is a plastic flowerpot and the green is long, slender grasses growing in the pot. The long zoom and the wide aperture account for the background blur.

The more I read and hear about Vancouver, the more I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for your confirmation about its beauty, Astrid.

Ellie

here

9 May 2008, 22:39

I think you can happily leave the giant lens behind, you'll be more than happy with pictures like this.

Love the close focus and the lovely blurry colours in the background, they set off these little brass cups perfectly.

Why aren't I surprised that they don't work?

chunter: Well, they do clink if you rattle them vigorously with your hand, but the wind alone has never achieved it. Thanks as always for stopping by Ellie.

France

France, Bordeaux

10 May 2008, 08:10

So, you see me smiling. May be those cups doesn't work but that's exactly what I love having in my little garden

chunter: You must have a lovely little garden, France. I lived in Fontainebleau for a year when I was 12-13 years old, but I never went to Bordeaux. I'm sure it's a beautiful place from what I've heard.

Nigel Clack

Glawsterrr!!

11 May 2008, 08:36

I like this one a lot, is the background just our of focus or is there some movement too?

chunter: Absolutely no movement in the background, and no processing to create the blur, Nigel. It's all the zoom and the aperture that accounts for it. It was a particularly lovely still day and I was tying the zoom while having a coffee on the garden bench.

Ron S

home - at last

12 May 2008, 23:02

The dragon bought me a set of these for a birthday(?) a couple of years ago. I got them working just last week after trying several different approaches. I've now mounted them like wind chimes with one in the middle and five around the outside, all hanging from heavy duty nylon line. The centre one has a CD 'sail' hanging from it and finally they make a nice sound in a gentle breeze.

chunter: That's an awful lot of effort for this humble photographer to go to for some noise in a breeze, Ron, so I think I'll pass on emulating your Heath Robinson approach. I already have some 'proper' wind chimes that drive me mad in the middle of the night! Many thanks for the tip though.

Sanchita Mukherjee

Netherlands

5 Jun 2008, 13:23

this conveys a sense of delicacy to me.

chunter: So glad you like it, Sanchita. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.

tim

leeds uk

20 Jun 2008, 06:14

superb shot Colin.

chunter: Thanks Tim. This is another result of exploring my local surroundings in a different way.

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