This is the last of my crystal ball shots taken at Birubi last week.
There is a bit of a story behind this picture. I climbed up one of the dunes and placed the ball next to the dried grass and started taking pictures. The sun was low in the sky and it was about half an hour before sunset. As I was taking photos I thought to myself 'I can smell smoke' I took a couple more photos and then saw a flame coming from the grass and smoke rising above it.
If you look closely you can see the flame and smoke to the left of the ball. I grabbed the ball, put it in my pocket, poured sand on the grass to put out the flame, took a quick look around to see if anyone was watching and made a hasty retreat. Well not exactly hasty, because to go from a kneeling position on soft sand dunes with a camera in one hand and camera bag in the other is no easy task at my age.
Luckily nobody spotted me and who would have thought that the ball would ignite a flame so quickly.
I didn't realize just how easy it was to be an arsonist. If somebody had said to me 'I'll give you a thousand dollars if you can light a flame with the sun and a glass ball' I would never be able to do it in a month of Sundays, but it isn't as difficult as you would think.
I didn't realize until I got home that I had actually got a shot of the smoke and flame. Oops.
Moral of the story, keep the glass ball away from dry grass.
!!!!!! Oh my! How funny though. Good thing you noticed it and put the flames out! You really are getting value for your $10, aren't you? Who knew it could make you an arsonist too? There's no end to the fun....... nice pic too!
I'm so glad you did not catch anything on fire Babs. We had a very similar situation when we were out with mine on the weekend. But it was my hubby 'teaching' my daughter how to catch one piece of dried grass on fire with the ball. LOL Btw great shot!
my goodness. I guessed what you were going to say as soon as you started your story. Just as well you werent in the bush. A timely warning. By the way dont hold it in your hand either. It burns very quickly.
You ended up with a great shot though Babs. Couldnt have done better if you tried :)
Great photo again with your ball. Love the story and glad everything turned all ok in the end. There was an element of funny there even though I realise how serious it could have been for you.
You reminded me of when we were children and played with magnifying glasses in the sunlight and putting them over paper - and sometimes our hands. Not very sensible but just what children do - they have to learn somehow 😂
Wonderful capture and a great story to go with it. Fascinating about the flame happening so quickly but fortunately you were about to snuff it quickly.
Oh gosh Babs, just as well there was lots of sand available to put out the fire. I only knew about that issue after my father found a number of small burns on his desk that turned out to be sun damage from several glass paper-weights. Love the shot though, very clever to capture the action too.
Oh my gosh!! I remember trying so hard to do that with a magnifying glass as a kid...it never worked......and here you did it intentionally... Good job you spotted the fire and were able to put it out Babs...!
You ended up with a great shot though Babs. Couldnt have done better if you tried :)
You reminded me of when we were children and played with magnifying glasses in the sunlight and putting them over paper - and sometimes our hands. Not very sensible but just what children do - they have to learn somehow 😂
@dide Luckily at home it isn't in direct sunlight.
@cruiser Yes, I thought the same as you Chris it would have gone up like wildfire in the bush.