Infinity is the idea of something going on, extending, without measure. But how can you conceptualize something without end, let alone SEE it? For this week's Shooting Challenge, you're going to figure that out.
The Challenge
Capture a photo that shows us infinity.
The Technique
The absolute first thing that comes to mind is the old double mirror trick, capturing the reflections of a mirror of a mirror of a mirror...And that's great, so long as you figure out how to keep such tricks differentiated from other entrants.
Though, technically, you should know that mirrors won't create infinite reflections - they're actually countable. It's a bit of a sidebar, but I found this explanation on a physics board pretty fascinating:
Plane Mirrors placed facing each other (parallel) actually does not produce infinite images, It will though in infinite time. . Say [a photographer] leaned on one mirror while the other is placed just over a metre in front. His image(of his anterior aspect that is) will be formed after approximately 1/300,000,000 second. Image of his back will take a further 1/900,000,000 seconds more if he is one foot deep. Now in one second alone we have about 300,000,000 (300 million) images. After just half a minute you'll have enough images to keep you occupied for over 70 years if you can manage to count four images a second. Nothing said of the images behind you. Well, that seems like infinity to us.
Of course, for the purposes of this challenge, I'm more than happy to call that "infinite" as well as any other ideas you might come up with the capture the concept.
The Example
Our lead shot is by flickr's cuttlefish. Note the infinite background due to mirrors. Also note that, this admittedly cool self-portrait approach has officially been done. Push yourselves and your perspectives to do something different.
The Rules
1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos must be taken since this contest was announced (read more on that above).
3. Explain, briefly, the equipment, settings, technique and story behind shot.
4. Email submissions to contests@gizmodo.com, not me.
5. Include 970px wide image (200KB or less) AND a 2560x1600 sized in email. I know that your photo may not fall into those exact high rez dimensions, so whatever native resolution you're using is fine.
6. One submission per person.
7. Use the proper SUBJECT line in your email (more info on that below)
8. You agree to the Standard Contest Rules - though we DO accept non-US resident submissions.
9. If the image contains any material or elements that are not owned by you and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the image, you are responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the image in the manner set forth in these rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any image is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
Send your best photo by Monday, June 12th at 8AM Eastern to contests@gizmodo.com with "Infinite" in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs, and use a FirstnameLastnameInfinite.jpg (970px wide) and FirstnameLastnameInfiniteWallpaper.jpg (2560px wide) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email along with a story of the shot in a few sentences. And don't skip this story part because it's often the most enjoyable part for us all beyond the shot itself!
Mark Wilson is the founder of photography blog Life, Panoramic and Philanthroper, a daily deal site for nonprofits.