Beam me up by helenhall

Beam me up

This is my offering in response to week 3 of both challenges which I am following:

52 week challenge 2018 week 3: Full Manual

Walking home from work, I started off with the intention of learning something about light trails and how to capture these. Quickly though, I got to playing with four second exposures and became fascinated by capturing a selfie of myself walking along, using the long exposure to give a kind of ghost effect. I wanted to measure the light levels across the whole frame and so changed to a 23 area focussing mode. as it was very dark - especially with the camera pointing downwards, I notched the ISO up to 400. I then held the camera close against my body and continued walking for the four second exposure. The f stop was immaterial to me, so I set it at whatever was needed to satisfy the light meter. What you see is a composite of several such exposures.

52 Portraits of me: Week 3 Science Fiction/Futuristic

Well how cool would it be if we could just beam ourselves to another location?. If it were possible, this is exactly how I would do it - a blur and a whirr to take off high into the sky ready to align myself and travel, in an instant, to a new destination.

As it so happens, there is even a song which goes with my title and expresses much of what I feel on this anniversary of losing Mum (her funeral was two year's ago yesterday). So to see her I would go today. For just one minute. We would reminisce and remind ourselves of the little things that made her so extraordinary -

https://helensaying.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/no-ordinary-mum/

Beam me up - by Pink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5H_HUpgMiI

And, as if that wasn't enough, I think this fits neatly into the fiveplustwo exploration challenge.

Very cool abstract!
January 17th, 2018  
I was so very moved by your beautiful words to your Mum Helen
January 17th, 2018  
I like your photo interpretation of beaming up! Yeah, wouldn’t it be great to go for a quick beam and peek into heaven?! Just to say hello and bye...
January 18th, 2018  
I also was moved by your words to your mum. So much so that I explored more of your thoughts on wordpress. I would beam myself up straightaway to my family on the other side of the world
January 18th, 2018  
fabulously abstract.
January 18th, 2018  
Cool! - both for the results and technique.
January 18th, 2018  
Good for you- a 3fer! There are several people in my family (both my parents, and all my grandparents) and a few friends that I would love to see again. I believe I will but the meantime is long.
January 18th, 2018  
Along with Suzanne and Chris, I was very moved by your "No Ordinary Mum" post in your blog. I also read, "What is a good sport?". You are a talented writer, Helen. I'm so glad you included the link to your blog. Yes, I would definitely beam myself up to spend some precious moments with my parents. It makes me smile just thinking about it. :-)
January 18th, 2018  
Wouldn't it be marvellous if we could beam ourselves to another location. Your writings brought back very emotional memories for me. I could think of a few places I would like to revisit and things I would say to people I love if they were still here.
January 18th, 2018  
This is a very cool photo! Thanks for the link to your blog, you are a very talented writer
January 18th, 2018  
Cool 😎 abstract effect
January 18th, 2018  
Interesting to read your inspiration behind the image, which in itself makes for a pleasing abstract, but with your description, so much more. Makes me think of the interplay of worlds and visual image.
January 18th, 2018  
ah helen. such wonderful words about your mum. i am fast approaching the first anniversary of my pa's death, and was very moved by your narrative. how i would love to teleport myself to a time in his life when we could share our love of photography for a special little while. and i really like your interpretation of the sci-fi theme - the outcome has a definite alien flavour, but is also recognisably human. cleverly done
January 19th, 2018  
@kwind thank you Kim. It is perhaps a bit more abstract than I intended!
@suzanne234 that is kind of you to say so Suzanne. Thank you for reading.
@stimuloog thanks Marloes - oh I would so love to do that for real.

@cruiser Chris, thank you for reading and exploring my blog. I am touched that you did so.
@francoise thanks Francoise, abstract is my comfort zone :)

@fotoblah thanks - technique was a little bit weird to tell the truth - I had to stop myself wondering what people were thinking.
@olivetreeann I never knew my grandparents - now they would be great encounters to have. Thank you for your comment, and for visiting my abandoned blog. I see you, too, have a passion for writing. And some very interesting reflections on photography and characters. Your site is beautifully put together.
@gaylewood Thank you for your generous words Gayle. And for reading the posts too. I am humbled that so many did so.
@onewing thank you too Babs for your comment and reading my post. I do hope my thoughts did not cause upset or regret.
@kjarn Kathy thank you very much for the comment and for the reading. It takes a long time for me to put together what I want to say, but I find that it helps for me to clarify my own thoughts.
@carolmw thanks Carol, always appreciated that you take the time to stop and look and comment.
@taffy Thankyou. - it is an interesting debate that goes on in my mind a lot. I always admire those who can make their photography speak for itself without need for words, or leaving the viewer to draw his or her own conclusions. I enjoy reading what people have to say too, and for myself, find the writing about the image somewhat cathartic. I am always surprised that so many people seem to be reading my words!
@pistache it seems that there are many of us that would like to beam ourselves up to spend a while with someone we have lost on this earth. Thank you for your kind words, about my words, and the photo.
January 19th, 2018  
@helenhall Wow- thank you so much for visiting my website Helen! I am trying to become more disciplined with the photography feed as I tend to wait for the muse to hit me! Of course it usually hits at like 2 AM when I should be sleeping! hehe Thanks again for checking it out!
January 20th, 2018  
Thanks for the technical explanation as well as the personal one. I have a lot yet to learn about photography!! A very interesting image has resulted.
January 21st, 2018  
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