Vortex Magic: the Creator of Worlds

I am the mother of dragons.
I am the maker of frost feathers for magical, imaginary birds.
I am the creator of tiny frigid worlds of crystal magic.

Yeah, I was out playing with frozen bubbles again.  ;-)

The local temperature in central PA was 7 degrees F (about minus 14 C) on this morning. And I decided to have another go at the frost bubbles. Conditions were pretty much ideal: very cold, sunny, and without a single breeze.

I usually practice my craft in the backyard behind the shed, but that area is still plastered with snow. So my husband suggested I use the front sunny area behind Barb's butterfly garden, where he had cleared the snow some, and where there is a line of stumps to work on (a gift of the tree that fell in August 2019). And so that is where I played my cold bubble games.

This time I tried to do better with keeping my hands warm. Since I had a bunch of clean stumps to work with, I simply placed my camera and other implements atop them when I didn't need to hold them in my hands.

This meant I could put my camera down, take off my gloves, blow my bubble, put the gloves back on, and pick up the camera for photos. It made a BIG difference. My hands were never really too cold! Also, it's been my experience that it's better NOT to have the camera in your hands while trying to blow bubbles, as you might get sticky stuff on the camera or (even worse) the lens.

My other thought was that if you had a photographer's assistant to blow the bubbles, that might even be better. So if you have a stray or wayward 10-year-old, you might press him or her into service as a Bubble Wrangler. Frozen bubbles are science fun for all members of the family!

I took most of my photos using the vivid setting on my camera, for maximum saturation. And after I got the photos imported, I played with some filters. A "vivid warm" filter got me some pale pinks and teals that I really liked. You may see the cotton candy pinky-teal shot, as well as the golden dragon holding the goblet of crystal fire, in the extras.

In totally unrelated news, on this day, my husband and I went for hoagies at a nearby town. These Covid times are so strange. We hardly go anywhere, and when we do, I'm like a dog, jumping in the car: "We're going somewhere! We're going somewhere!" So yes, we got our hoagies, which were delicious. But there was more.

On the way home, we made two delightful stops. One was at the local Grange building, which has a Little Free Library out front that I never saw before. It was chock full of fun books by authors I enjoy. So I ended up bringing home 26 new-to-me books to read over winter time. Next time I go by, I will drop off some books to return the favor.

When we drove by the local llama farm, there were two llamas out, one larger one that was mixed colors, and one smaller one in a pale, almost white shade. The bigger one came out to the fence and offered me such a lovely, everlasting smile that I couldn't resist including it; you may see that shot in the extras!

As far as the song to accompany this image, let's let this one be for that smiling llama. Smile an everlasting smile. A smile can bring you near to me. If you are a BeeGees fan, you recognize those lyrics instantly! And I'm about to lay something on you that you are really going to want to know. So listen up!

Barry Gibb, the oldest and last remaining BeeGee, has just released an album called Greenfields (Amazon link here), where he performs their hits with some of his favorite people. Guess what: It is WONDERFUL! How do I know? I already bought it!

So this is an absolute instant fave: Dolly Parton and Barry Gibb singing one of the best ever BeeGees tunes, Words. Also, here is a really adorable short video of the making of the recording that you may enjoy. If you love Dolly already, you may just love the video; her tiny yodel just cracks me up!

Following are some additional resources for frozen bubble photography:
Vortex Magic: Frozen Bubbles  2/1/19 blip
Fun With Frozen Bubbles!  2/15/20 blip
More Fun With Frozen Bubbles  2/21/20 blip
The Beginning: Fun With Frozen Bubbles Take 1  1/23/21 blip
Frozen Bubbles Take 2, Crystal Visions  1/24/21 blip
How to Create Remarkable Frozen Bubbles in Winter - article
How to Photograph Frozen Bubbles in the Cold - article