Tag Archives: shadows

Convection Patterns in Boiling Water

This one is something I kept meaning to do on multiple occasions but never was ready when it occurred to me.  Boiling a pan of water, I am always fixated on the patterns that show up as shadows on the bottom of the pan as the heat affects the water by differing amounts resulting in convection flows across the pan.  This is the sort of thing that only oddballs like me find fascinating.  I finally thought to have the camera close to hand when boiling some water and got some footage of the patterns as they swirled.  I was quite pleasantly surprised that the lens didn’t steam up during this.  No doubt Nancy looked at me with that puzzled expression that has appeared many times after decades of knowing me!

Shadows of a Hummingbird

I have shot endless hummingbird photos in the backyard at home.  There was one shot that eluded me for a while.  At a certain time of day, if a hummingbird is at the feeder, its shadow will fall on the post on the corner of our deck.  I have seen it a few times when I didn’t have a camera handy and have had a camera when none came or the light moved around too quickly.  However, I did finally get the combination I was after.  I like the hint of the hummingbird without the actual bird in shot that it delivers.