Our hotel had a deal with a local glass blowing shop to transport us via water taxi to view their process of making their beautiful wares. We went across the water on a rainy morning and saw the show.

I think the shop we visited had some unspoken rules when they encouraged us to take pictures of their glass blowing process. I think what they meant was phone photos. I got a double look when I pulled out the Olympus but due to its size, I wasn’t asked to put it away (but I had a feeling they would have if I had my Nikon DSLR.)

I wanted to use available light for everything in the shop, so I chose a low aperture (f4 and 5.6) and let the camera choose the ISO. Early digital files were very noisy above ISO 400 but I don’t even worry about it anymore. I also chose the smallest available aperture to capture the glass horse. I wanted to highlight its luminescence and get the creamy background to further isolate the workmanship. I used the 25mm f1.7 Panasonic lens to accomplish both goals. I zoomed with my feet instead of an expensive larger lens (the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro). I shot with aperture priority, letting the camera handle the shutter speed.

We walked around the shop with an eye to buy something but I’m afraid that while the show was free the products we were interested in were anything but. Instead we were treated to Economics 101-never spend more than you can afford. We came away empty. We decided to settle for the experience of watching and shopping, certainly a treasure in itself.