As much as I love Photoshop, it is only a secondary aid to realizing my imagination. My camera remains my primary tool. I enjoy the end result most if it is the camera that has had a majority in defining it. The satisfaction is sweetest, if the camera has been used in a manner that makes the end result seem like Photoshop’s doing.

What you see here is neither a cluster of glowing alien bacteria under a microscope, nor a polka dot design gone terribly wrong. This picture started out as a deliberate out of focus shot of small pointed blue lights at the biggest aperture that my 50mm lens would allow (1.8). This lens has 5 aperture blades and had it been stopped down a little more, we would get pentagons instead of the ellipses you see here. I divided the image into four equal areas and “inverted” (the equivalent of creating a negative digitally) two diagonal ones. I only wish that the picture was little less grainy and my camera’s sensor a little less dirty.