Oil and Water: Not Always a Bad Combination
Article written by Colleen Sayer, IACC Macro SIG Leader
 
When you think of the phrase “like oil and water,” what generally comes to mind is incompatibility. But when you mix oil and water with photography, the resulting images are, in a sixties acid trip kind of way, quite mind-blowing!!

​On Saturday, October 28, 15 members of the Macro SIG gathered at my house to explore the abstract creations that come to life when you put a glass pan of oil and water above a brightly patterned background.

While it was literally standing room only, with a couple of members even being relegated to a bedroom, great fun was had learning how to perfect this unusual technique. 

As is always the case with IACC members, everyone was quite willing to share their successes (and seek advice on the failures).  A few adventurous types even took this liquid exploration further, by combining milk and food colouring and introducing dish soap into the mix. Some of those resulting images were very reminiscent of the aurora borealis. So don’t be fooled in the next competition if you see an amazing rendition of the Northern Lights. It might actually be the “Milky Way”!! 

© Ron Ross