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Posts Tagged ‘Wrap’

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Special Effects

26 Sep

In this article I’ll show you how to use a common household item, plastic wrap, to make creative images with colored filter special effects.

Plastic wrap (a blanket term for Saran Wrap, Glad Wrap and Cling Wrap) is a clear plastic film typically sold in rolls or boxes with a serrated edge. Usually used for sealing food items like sandwiches to keep them fresh for longer, plastic wrap is an incredibly versatile material. Great for a picnic or practical jokes, it’s also a useful tool for creative photography.

If you’re looking to add something a little different to your portfolio, plastic wrap is a simple, low-cost option. Using a rubber band, a camera, and some markers, you can easily create a colored filter out of plastic wrap – adding an experimental edge to your photographic repertoire.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Special Effects

The science

Like many great scientific discoveries, plastic wrap was discovered by accident. Ralph Wiley, a lab worker at The DOW Chemical Company was having trouble washing out a beaker which contained a substance he couldn’t scrub clean. He called the substance “Eonite” named after an indestructible substance created by chemist Eli Eon in the Little Orphan Annie comic book strip. DOW researchers adopted the substance, using it to create a greasy, dark green film they called “Saran” and shared it with the military to spray on fighter jets as a guard against sea spray.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

A very subtle red and blue colored filter adds a little color to this image of a Ferris wheel.

Saran works by polymerizing vinylidene chloride with acrylic esters and unsaturated carboxyl groups to create chains of vinylidene chloride. What does that mean? Simply put, the process results in a film with molecules bound so tightly that very little can penetrate it. The chemists at DOW eventually removed Saran’s green color. They also removed an unpleasant odor the Saran emitted when exposed to oxygen. It was first sold for household use in 1953.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

A surreal green shade created with a plastic wrap filter colored with green marker.

Plastic wrap in art

While handy in the lunchbox or fridge, plastic wrap is also a great material to experiment with creatively. Artists have used plastic wrap in sculpture, painting and as a prop for photography. Many well-known fashion designers have created clothing from layers of plastic cling film for the runway.

Because of its relatively clear composition, plastic wrap is great for forming a barrier between your camera lens and foreign materials. Recently, I applied a layer of Vaseline to plastic wrap stretched over the front of my camera lens. The result was a fine, misty effect without the agony of a greasy camera.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

This image was captured using plastic wrap over the lens with a red section on the upper half and a green colored portion below.

Creating a colored special effects filter

You will need:

  • A piece of plastic wrap at least 30cm in length and width.
  • Camera and lens.
  • Permanent markers.
  • A few rubber bands.

Adding color

To create a colored filter for your camera, first you will need to add some color to your plastic wrap! The easiest way to do this is to stretch the plastic wrap over your lens and color in the plastic within the circle. However, this method is a little risky. If the plastic wrap is pierced, you will end up drawing on your lens or lens protector (cap).

Instead, take your lens cap or lens and place it on the plastic wrap. Trace a circle around the outside. Now you’ll know where you should color your plastic wrap to get full coverage of the lens. To minimize the use of plastic here, you can trace multiple outlines of your lens on the same sheet of plastic wrap as I’ve done below.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

Use the same sheet of plastic wrap to create different effects, making it easier to keep for later and minimizing waste.

Finally, add color to the sectioned-off portion of plastic wrap, make sure you use quality permanent markers. Low-quality texters won’t leave any visible color on the plastic wrap and the ink from non-permanent markers simply slides off the plastic (onto your hands or something worse).

You can color in your circles any way you would like. For a full effect, color in the whole interior of the marked out circle with one or two colors. For a softer gradient, draw a light squiggle. You can color in the center of the circle and leave the perimeter clear, or vice versa. Don’t be afraid to experiment here!

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

The effect of a portion of plastic wrap colored entirely green and placed over the front of the lens.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

Coloring only the outer perimeter of the plastic wrap filter produces a fish-eye effect.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

Create an eerie atmosphere with a thick layer of red permanent marker.

Time to photograph

When you are happy with the colors of your circles, select one and lay it carefully over the front of your lens. Fix the filter in place with a rubber band, but don’t pull the plastic wrap too tightly or it will split.

When the filter is fixed properly to the lens, it’s time to get photographing. Because your camera will have difficulty focusing with the layer of colored plastic wrap in the frame, you should use manual focus over automatic. Because the filter will cut down the light reaching your sensor, you may also need to increase your exposure time or adjust your aperture accordingly.

Also, be sure to check the rubber band is fitted snugly around your lens. You don’t want it to come flying off, especially when photographing portraits!

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color special Effects

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

Using colored plastic wrap can add an effect imitating the light leaks produced with partially exposed film.

Finishing up

Once you are happy with your photos, take them back to have a look on your computer. As I mentioned before, the filer may cut down the amount of light reaching your sensor. This could result in photographs that lack contrast. Photoshop is your friend here.

Open your images in Photoshop and adjust the Curves layer to increase contrast. For more intense colors you may also want to adjust the Vibrance and Saturation of the image with the Vibrance and Saturation tool.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

Adjust the Curves tool for more contrast in your images.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

Adjust the Vibrance and Saturation tool for more intense colors.

Your Turn

Once you’ve got some quirky plastic wrap photos, please share them in the comments below. And remember to keep your filters for later. You never know when you might need them. Fold them down or scrunch them into a loose ball, they last for ages. Have fun.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

An apocalyptic scene created with red ink that completely covers the plastic wrap filter.

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Effects

Loosely fixing colored plastic wrap to the lens, mirrors the view through a window on a rainy day.

Pulling the plastic wrap taut reduces glare.

An image with a slower shutter speed creates light trails as if looking through a window with raindrops on the outside.

The post How to Use Plastic Wrap to Create Neat Color Special Effects by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Tunnel of Books: Curved Shelves Wrap Bookstore Walls & Ceiling

25 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

book tunnel interior

Paired to fantastic effect, a series of arch-forming shelving units and a black-mirrored floor create a wraparound tunnel in a Chinese bookstore, punctuated by a fracture leading visitors through the resulting passageway.

book tunnel front view

book tunnel side view

Designed by Shanghai studio XL-Muse (images Shao Feng), these floor-to-ceiling shelves in the Yangzhou Zhongshuge bookshop drew inspiration from the winding and reflective Zhen Yuan river nearby, as well as the area’s arched bridges.

book cavernouse i interior

book curved reading room

book meeting space

“In the past, guided by water, many literati and poets visited and gathered here,” said XL-Muse, and these regional infrastructural icons were “used to be the guiding factor of culture and commerce, and they represent that the bookstore is the bond between humans and books at the same time.”

book wrapping volumes

book side view

book reader

The tunnel opens up into a vast library-worth realm of further reading in the cavernous interior, with architectural elements echoing the arches of the entry corridor. The rounded-and-arched theme is carried through in thin pillars and sloping displays.

book children reading

book kids space

Additional interior design dimensions come into play in themed reading spaces for children and adults, with starry ceilings and other humanizing elements. Here, furniture colors and shapes soften these spaces and make them more comfortable and inviting for longer-term occupation.

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That’s a Wrap! 15 Building Facades Veiled in Plastic & Cloth

06 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Stretched or hung around the skeletons of buildings, these membranes made of plastic, fabric and metal mesh act like architectural clothing, diffusing light and obscuring the original forms. From Christo and Jeanne Claude’s iconic Wrapped Reichstag to homes enveloped in translucent ETFE, these veiled structures have an air of mystery, their second skin often made of unexpected materials like plastic bottles or camouflage-printed textiles.

Lucas Cultural Arts Museum by OMA

wrap facade OMA 1

wrap facade oma 2

wrap facade oma 3

Once it’s finally built, after a long delay that saw its planned building site changing from Chicago to California, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum (LCAM) could be veiled in a dome-like transparent membrane made of ETFE plastic. Designed by OMA, this second layer creates a sheltered, freely accessible sky park, and can also function as a giant movie screen.

Wrapped Reichstag by Christo + Jeanne Claude

wrap facade reichstag 3

wrap facade reichstag 4

Virtually any structure with a membrane of some sort wrapped around it evokes the iconic work of artistic duo Christo and Jeanne Claude, particularly ‘Wrapped Reichstag.’ In 1995, the artists completely covered the entire Kunstmuseum Bonn with more than a million square feet of aluminum-colored fabric as a symbol for the new Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The project cost $ 15 million USD and remained in place for two weeks.

Shrink-Wrapped Storefront by SO-IL

wrap facade storefront

wrap facade storefront 2

wrap facade storefront 3

Brooklyn-based studio SO-IL literally shrink-wrapped the famous Storefront for Art and Architecture’s facade in white plastic, creating a mysterious series of bulges and a single entryway. Taking inspiration from the seasonal storage of boats, SO-IL plays with the concept of artistic preservation. It’s actually not unusual for entire buildings to be shrink-wrapped for various purposes, like sensitive renovations, but the company that helped carry out the project noted that artistic usage of the wrapping method is rare. The new facade gave the storefront a snow-white and pristine look that lasted just days as it proved a tempting surface for vandals.

Glowing Home in Japan by Suppose Design Office

wrap facade glowing house 1

wrap facade glowing house 2

wrap facade glowing house 3

Plastic sheets wrapped around the exterior of a three-story steel home in Hiroshima filter light and create a lantern-like effect at night when illuminated from within. This translucent envelope enables a light-filled home on the inside, which was no small task for architecture firm Suppose Design Office as the narrow property is boxed in on three sides. Reed shades are hung in the upper stories during the summer to keep them from overheating.

Exterior Curtains on an Australian Home

wrap facade curtains

wrap facade curtains 2

wrap facade curtain house 3

wrap facade curtain house 4

In a reversal of the usual curtained windows, Herzl Arkitekten of Austria covered an entire two-story building in oversized outdoor draperies, veiling the outside of the duplex from view. Pegs hold the curtains open around windows and doors.

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Thats A Wrap 15 Building Facades Veiled In Plastic Cloth

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Origami Footwear: Lightweight Lace-Free Shoes Wrap & Fit Any Feet

17 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

flexible origami shoe sole

A Japanese designer and Italian shoemaker have taken a fresh approach to athletic footwear, adapting the minimalist art of cloth wrapping to form the basis of a flexible shoe that fits any foot shape.

wrapping shoes japanese design

Masaya Hashimoto worked with Vibram, the makers of foot-shaped FiveFingers shoes (with articulated toes), to create the Furoshiki series of shoes with wrapping soles that fold around feet without needing laces (a simple hook and and loop system).

lace free sport shoes

A specially-engineered gripping system keeps the shoes in place and make it possible for the shoe to perform like ordinary footwear but with less weight and material.

foot wrapping athletci shoes

The system has a number of advantages, including more flexible sizing than traditional shoes, easier packing for travel and the ability to skip socks comfortably.

wrapping black sole shoes

From Vibram: “The concept for this type of footwear was derived from the Japanese custom of packaging items by wrapping them in cloth fabric. Furoshiki is the only sole on the market that wraps around the entire foot. Because the upper is constructed with stretch fabric, it will anatomically fit nicely on any foot type and the hook and loop closure system allows for a quick, easy fit.”

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14,000 Refugee Life Jackets Wrap Berlin Konzerthaus Entrance

19 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

life jacket art project

In an effort to raise awareness about the growing refugee crisis, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has wrapped six giant entry columns to a landmark concert hall in central Berlin with life jackets collected in Greece.

life jacket installation berlin

Weiwei has been living on and working from the Greek Island of Lesvos, a destination currently swamped with income refugees, many coming across Mediterranean Sea from Turkey.

life jacket columns berlin

life jacket installation

He regularly shares images and videos of asylum-seekers from his stay on the island via social media accounts, but the installation takes things a step further, bringing the point home to those living inland on mainland Europe.

life jacket materials

life jacket installed

life boat hangs center

These 14,000 jackets are by no means a complete collection, and that is also part of the point: they are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, a sampling of the suffering and strife. Hundreds of refugees have also died trying to reach safety away from conflict (images via mompl and Frank Löschner / Konzerthaus Berlin).

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Wearable Skylines: Architectural Rings Wrap Up Global Cities

05 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

architecture wrapping cityscapes

Jewelry for urbanists has taken a new turn with these silver, gold and platinum cityscapes, each featuring iconic buildings, monuments and landmarks from major metropolitan centers around the world.

architectural ring collection

Ola Shekhtman, a goldsmith from North Carolina, has crafted rings around cities including San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin and Hong Kong, selling them online via Etsy.

architecture finger jewelry

Growing up in Siberia, Ola wanted to travel the world, eventually visiting London and San Francisco before moving to New York.

architecture silver gold rings

With the help of 3D-modeling software, she created this series to capture the spirit of places she has been and those she yet wishes to visit. Buyers can likewise decide whether to pick places they live, favorite past points of travel or goal-oriented rings for desired future destinations.

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Wrap It Up! 10 Creative Building Scrims & Scaffolds

12 Apr

[ By Steve in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Scrim Scaffold 0
These artistic wraps, scrims and scaffolds creatively conceal the ugly truth of building construction, remediation and restoration.

Scrim Scaffold 1b

Illusion of justice? OK, that was too easy but restoring the United States Supreme Court Building was anything but. Designed by Cass Gilbert, the building’s classical marble facade has fronted the inner workings of the SCOTUS since 1935. The white Vermont Imperial Danby marble has aged gracefully for the most part but after 75 years of Washington weathering, a comprehensive restoration of the columned West Facade was deemed necessary… and it was going to get messy. What to do?

Scrim Scaffold 1a

Scrim Scaffold 1c

The solution employed by Rockville-based Forrester Construction Co. was a clever combination of inner rigid scaffolding wrapped in a decorative scrim depicting a photo of the facade in its forecasted finished state. Derived from practices commonly used in Europe, the scrim kept the dirty work of cleaning and restoring the facade under an attractive cover for the better part of two years, being removed upon the project’s completion in late 2013.

Dutch Treat

Scrim Scaffold 2

Sometimes less is more and conversely, more may seem like less. That was the case on Kettingstraat in The Hague, when Dutch architecture office Archipelontwerpers installed a Gehry-esque golden scrim to camouflage restoration and renovation work. Who’s going to notice the construction with a shimmering curtain of gold to distract their eyes?

Meat-Wrapping District

Scrim Scaffold 3a

Scrim Scaffold 3c

Scrim Scaffold 3b

In 2012 when the Whitney Museum of American Art dedicated a retrospective to 83-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, they decided to promote it in a big way. Take “Yellow Trees”, a building-sized art installation doubling as a practical scaffolding scrim on West 14th Street at 9th Avenue, near the Whitney‘s new location in NYC’s trendy Meatpacking District.

OZ-some!

Scrim Scaffold 4

Scrim Scaffold 4b

Scrim Scaffold 4c

Sydney Town Hall was an Australian showpiece when it opened in 1889 but over a century’s worth of grime can’t be removed in a day or for a dollar. It took $ 33 million and quite a few days, in fact, and the use of a custom 30m (66ft) tall scrim for the clock tower and 20m (44ft) tall screens for the front facade helped preserve the old gal’s dignity while her cosmetics were being applied.

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DIY Camera Wrap Bag

13 Mar
Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3, 4

We know your camera is your favorite toy so why put in in a lame generic bag?

Show your camera (or phone) a little love and make it a totally rad wrap bag to keep it protected and looking great while off duty.

Get that glassy look off your face! We promise this requires only the teensiest bit of sewing.

PLUS as pay-off you get to customize it with any fabric/strap combo you choose.

Cats? Sequins? DO IT!

Learn How to Make Your Own Camera Wrap Bag

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Read the rest of DIY Camera Wrap Bag (479 words)


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Ground, Up! Curved Green Sky Gardens Wrap Tower Hotel

06 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

sky garden upper levels

The best of both worlds: guests at this hotel get to enjoy skyscraper-high views and still experience layers of intensive greenery on virtually all levels.

sky garden ground up

A series of sleek towers rises up from an organic base that provides shelter and visual interest on the lower levels. These curvilinear forms support an interstitial outdoor floor, and can also be found far above, stretched between the towers at upper levels, serving as platforms for lush greenery.

sky garden concrete cloud

A grid of circular concrete columns pierces the various levels, rising up to support the towers. These provide for the structural needs of the building, but also serve as a transitional design element to bridge the heavier free-form concrete clouds below and the lighter frame-and-cladding rectangles above.

sky garden terrace level

The design by WOHA is meant to be a landmark for its city “Most of Singapore’s recent architecture – especially in and around the city centre – is nothing more than generic and can be seen anywhere in the world, regardless of climate and culture.

sky garden plans details

The concept is about balance, as is the architectural result: “An equilibrium point of architectural anonymity has been derived from a number of factors. Finally the city has a uniquely expressive urban landmark that reinterprets and reinvigorates its location”

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Wrap Recap: Best 10 DIY Xmas Gift Wrappings from Reddit

01 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

creative gift wrapping ideas

The best thing come in small packages – or around them. Among other places, Reddit was abuzz this year with simple but brilliant gift-wrap ideas, often done on low (or no) budget but with incredible ingenuity and enviable craftiness – here are some of the most brilliant examples of 2012, followed by a few from past holiday seasons as well, each linked back to the post within various niche SubReddits.

gift paper rip cord

Under /r/LifeProTips, an industrious user linked their work on Instructables, introducing “Rip Cord wWrapping  for your quick-open convenience. I wrap all my gifts with a rip cord incorporated into it. Use a length of ribbon or a strip of tape along the middle of your gift wrap and include a tab along the edge to make it easier to quick-open your gift.” The built-in ripcord-ribbon is wrapped around then tied to a pull tab for super-fast present access – great for impatient friends and family!

gift paper angry diy

For those with somewhat mixed feelings about the holiday and its associated spirit, someone uploaded the above custom angry-self wrapping paper to /r/Funny.

gift infected zombie paper

Under /r/Zombies, one woman wrote that her husband’s present had become infected, then linked to the image above. A very simple idea, technically and otherwise, that just incorporates two layers of paper instead of one.

gift portal wrapping idea

Another Redditor posted a example in /r/Portal of an excellent game-themed optical illusion – now that gift-wrapper was, as they say, definitely thinking in Portals.

gift custom minecraft box

And speaking of geeky options, /r/Minecraft fans just love seeing pixelated gaming elements come to life, like this do-it-yourself box, created as follows: “Acquired a small wood box from a local hobby store. Attached all textures using mod podge and coated the outside to seal the paper in. This is the finished and dried product”

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