IN THE FIELD: Candy Color
Recently I was asked why I photograph the places or things I do. I photograph subjects that grab my attention, evoke an emotional response and/or inspire my imagination.
This photo is a classic example of all three. It features a cup full of colorants from a custom color paint mixing machine, after the nozzles have been purged for color purity.
First the vibrant color caught my eye. I liked the random patterns that were formed by the various colors.
Second, looking into the cup and seeing all that color reminded me of when we were kids visiting the boardwalk down at the beach. We used to pop into an arcade where we would squirt different colors of paint onto a card and a machine would spin the card and create wild designs. Cool stuff for a 10 year old.
And don’t ask me why, but I thought this looked like a delicious piece of exotic candy.
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David Heilman 
Oh my I thought, at first, it was some piece of art…with a bird formed in the upper left. Lol!
It’s another one of my hidden talents Lol. And it does resemble an exotic bird from the tropics!
How big is this? For me looks like a tiny ‘exotic candy’, less than one inch.
Hi Cornel, it’s actually about 3 inches in diameter. We purge the machines into a coffee cup.
Looks yummy doesn’t it?!
I’m sure lots of galleries would accept that as a beautiful piece of art! Lovely photo, David.
Hmmmm I wonder if the Louvre would be interested. I could make quite a collage’ since we purge both machines every morning.
Very very cool!
Thanks Teri, it’s like a vitamin…we get two per day and each one is different!
Beautiful! I can imagine the other employees at the hardware store doing a double-take when you take such shots. I remember those arcade color spinners!
Yeah…I do get some odd looks and comments. But they all like the photos though. Weren’t those spinner things fun?
Thanks for explaining what this is! I like the way the surface tension creates reflections that add a bit of three-dimensionality to the image. And the colors are wonderful – so intense!
The pigments are super duper concentrated…which makes if difficult to remove from hands and clothing unless you get water on any spills right away. I’ll be taking some shots of the pigments when they are put into various base paints. That’s when you really get three-dimensionality!
love the vibrant colors and the way you shared their origin
Thanks LB…they sure are vibrant. There’s actually 13 different colors used but some got buried and are not visible in this photo. I’ll keep an eye for the next good batch!
I remember those spinning machines!I like this, it reminds me of a button but regardless, I like the pure intensity of the colours.
We used to spend a lot of time at those machines…oh to be young again…I wonder if anyone still has them at county fairs or other venues. Hey…this would make awesome colorful buttons!
what a fantastic photo! The colours are amazing 🙂
Thanks Kristina, the colors sure are vibrant. I’ll have to experiment with the purge process the next morning I have to clean the machines and see what other patterns I can come up with!
Very cool love the color and abstract feel in this !!
Thanks Bernie, I see a different pattern every morning. I could build up quite a collection of images LOL.
Fabulous photo, David! If framed, it would look great on a wall. Absolutely loved the randomness of the colors.
Thanks Nandini, never thought of framing this shot….Hmmmm. Probably the hardest thing would be choosing which one since we purge the paint machines every morning and the patterns of color are different everyday. It’s really fun to see what each day brings.
Hi dear David, How are you, I missed you and your amazing photographs… I hope and wish you are fine. let us hear you again, Love, nia