Liquid Nitrogen

The members of the club that attended the liquid nitrogen night all brought objects to photograph. Three green cups become mysterious monoliths in the fog.

A flower was included in the mix. Placing it in the tray with the water produced a dreamy landscape. A very static yet interesting mix that contrasts greatly with the next one, where the liquid nitrogen was blown over a mirror holding the flower.

Playing with Liquid Nitrogen

I promised a description of the liquid nitrogen session at the Truro Imagemakers Club, so here goes!

Cliff originally thought of using dry ice, since it sits in the water and sizzles away, producing nice fog for atmospheric effects. But the price was much higher than previous years. Some digging revealed that liquid nitrogen could be had for a very reasonable price. The thermos you see in the picture being tipped cost $40 and was still half full after we had been using it for 2 hours.

Some notes about using this technique. The fog dissapates rapidly, so you need to be close to the object you want to create the fog effects around. Also we discovered that a constant trickle of liquid nitrogen from the thermos seemed to make a more consistent fog than “gulps” of liquid nitrogen poured over the tray.

In the example shown the flowers are actually in the tray of water. This water tray is important for helping to create the fog. However normally we set a mirror next to the tray with the object on the mirror. A little helpful breeze from a small fan moved the fog over the mirror.