I am a firm believer that photography and bubbles go well together. Many would disagree, (I know more than one photographer who dreads shooting a wedding amongst the chaos of bubble confetti) but I love the transient, ethereal images that you can capture with bubbles. Whether it is a macro shot of soap swirling on the surface, a frenzy of bubbles in a liquid or a flurry of bubbles surrounding a couple as they leave the church after their wedding, there is an infinite amount of visual interest available from these spheres that I can quite happily play with for hours.
And of course if you are looking for an interesting subject to try out some new effects, lenses, or just ideas, bubbles are cheap, portable and highlymalleable . You can blow them in your back garden, onto a surface, or capture them in a liquid (hey, any excuse to open a bottle of Champagne orCava !) You can create streams, clouds, pillars. Big bubbles, small bubbles, multi-bubbles. If you get just the right soap, you can even create bubbles which are sturdy enough to be moved around into position and will last for several minutes.
They are a great lesson in composition, light, focus, and depth of field and their reflective nature challenges you to think outside the box and experiment creatively.
There is an excellent post about bubbles over at Life in the Fast Lane, (a great blog) with more information about these soapy spheres than you will probably ever need, as well as an fabulous range of images on the subject which perfectly illustrates the limitless possibilities. Add inPhotoshop and you are ready to create even more amazing images.
Here are some of my favorites:
Photo The 5th Ape
What a challenging exercise in colorization. How do you colorize a bubble without colorizing the background that is visible through it?
The Bubbleboy. Photo Ukaaa
A clever image which keeps the boy as a silhouette, making him seem almost two dimensional, while the bubble is quite literally larger than life.
Photo Threetwoone
Is it a bubble? Is it a planet? One thing is for sure, you could take this shot million times and probably end up with a different set of shapes and colors on the surface each time.
Photo Lance and Erin
While the post has some really nice images that have used Photoshop, I like this natural reflection.
Photo Marky Bon
Underwater bubbles are particularly interesting. I love the sense of anticipation in this image, as you wait for the big bubble to break free from the plant.
Photo The Russians are Here
Using a bubble as a lens or a frame is a neat idea. It works well for both landscape shots and close up images, for instance looking at a petal through a bubble.
So with all of that inspiration, what are you waiting for? Grab a bottle of bubbles, your camera, and start experimenting.
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