Looking back on 2016 on this January 1, 2017 (and filling a gaping blog hole for December 24) I believe I can assert that my photograph of Olena and her blue hair was the most surprising photograph that I took. 

It wasn’t an entirely Kosher photograph as I was giving some lessons to my baroque bassist friend from Portland, Curtis Daily on the taking of portraits using a studio flash. Protocol would stipulate that I stand back and let Daily take his photographs. The fact was that I was squeezing some off with my digital Fuji X-E1. Being an old man I know that light has what is called colour in Degrees Kelvin. Daylight is at 5500 Kelvin. The usual balancing in colour for studio flash is to get as close to that number as possible. The age of the flash tube can make that number vary. When Curtis was taking his pictures with his Mamiya RB-67 and connected to the flash (using daylight balanced colour film and or b+w film) I was using my Fuji with no connection to the flash. I had set it at 3200 Kelvin which is the colour temperature of TV and Movie lighting. It is also close to the colour temperature of the continuous lights of the flash commonly called modeling lights. So Olena’s skin is of the correct colour but the light outside the Venetian blinds is daylight. This is why they are blue.