ABOUT THIS PHOTO This pattern is actually two separate pat-
terns in one exposure. The first was done with a blue gel over the lens,
then the lens was covered and a new pattern was started with a red gel
placed over the lens. Taken at 63 seconds, f/18, and ISO 100.
9-17CAMERA TOSS The camera toss is a
technique where you just toss your camera
in the air and see what happens when the
shutter release is triggered. There is no
really good reason to do this other than
that the resulting images, many times just
by luck, are really fun and the process is
really fun. A word of warning: Don’t do this
with your top-of-the-line or brand-new cam-
era that you need for work. I am pretty sure
that if you send it in for repairs and you are
asked what happened to your camera, the
answer of “I threw it in the air and failed to
catch it on the way down” will usually end
up with the repair folks just laughing at you
and returning the camera. But if you have a
spare camera body and a relatively cheap
lens, then this could be a great thing to try.
Start by looking for areas with multiple col-
ors of light to get some interesting patterns.
You will use the timer function or a long
shutter speed. Press the shutter release
button and toss the camera into the air.
Catch the camera. View the results on the
camera’s LCD screen. Then, repeat as
many times as you want.
In theory, this looks pretty easy, but in real-
ity this technique requires a lot of practice
and a fair amount of luck to get it right.
Because the shutter will only be open for a
few seconds, you should set the exposure
by picking a relatively high ISO (in the 800
to 1600 range) and a wide aperture, say
f/4.0 or f/5.6, and pick a subject that has
some bright lights. Then press the shutter
release button and toss the camera up.