Bubblegum Elephant, Nature Photography

I’ve been experimenting with a few new photographic techniques lately that are basically a twist on my long exposure seascapes, I’ll tell you about it one day once I’ve completely figured it out. It results in images that look like the one above and the one from July’s calendar. But what I did want to tell you about today is Bubblegum Elephant, you may recognize from our August Calendar which is ready for you to download by the way. I was out on the beach one evening toying with my camera, and the resulting photographs had this dark area across the bottom. At first I wasn’t sure about it because originally I’d imagined something light and bright like the rest of my work, but as soon as I removed the darkness it just wasn’t the same, it wasn’t as grounded.

When I got back to the studio and looked at them on the big screen I was instantly reminded of this dip-dye placemat from Design Love Fest. See the similarity? Or have I lost my mind? The dye she used was Bubble Gum for the pink and Elephant Grey for the darker edge, and, well, you can see where my title came from.

But the point of this photograph wasn’t just to experiment with a new technique, it was to make art that would add a bit of fun ombre colour to a room while still being minimal enough to encourage meditative thoughts, helping to de-stress and feel hip at the same time.

So what do you think? Are you into the ombre trend? Have you ever dip dyed anything? And what do you think of my newest photograph? A welcome change? Or too dark and moody?