Happy Valentine’s Day!
Today I thought I’d share an image that’s a result of something from my notebook. Hopefully this is visual proof the notebook is working. Because we are still in the doldrums of our grey winter, I decided I needed to photograph inside in order to keep working on my craft plus this special day was around the corner and I wanted to express what it means but not in the usual way. It is the first image where I’ve conceived of it in the notebook, been able to pre-visualize it in a drawing with the intention to express something very specific and hopefully in my voice. It isn’t exactly as I drew in the notebook but it comes very close. There are also a couple of things I’d change or improve which I’ll share but first I’d like to know what you think of this image. As usual, comments are always welcome!
Thank you for posting this. I think it works nicely, although the separation between the dark background and the dark blue of the tea set is somewhat lost on the Web. I bet it would look very nice as a print, though. Those kinds of subtle color and tonal separations always look so nice when they are printed well.
I would love to see what you drew in your notebook.
I have a terrible time trying to visualize and set up a shot beforehand, which is something you need to do for still life shots like this and when using something other than natural lighting.
Tommy, I’ll tell you what I drew
I sketched a triptych but with three vertical images. When I photographed them, I found that I didn’t like the negative space around the single components.
By the way, these were photographed with natural light but now that I’ve seen Charlene’s link below I am going to redo this triptych.
I just realized from Tommys comment that you have to pick a background that stands out and that it is difficult when you have both dark blue and white. Same think as blond hair against a dark bakground and dark hair against a light background.
However, on my monitor I think it separates well, the teacup/pot against the background.
I also find it interesting that you placed the cup on top left, so that it is swopped around in the right image. You’ve also chose to shoot straight on so that we can see the underrside of the plate.
You also have some reflections – which may be intentional. I got one suggestion once my whole kitchen was reflected and that was to add alayer with only the reflections, then add a little gaussian blur, and then reduce the opacity of that layer.
Well I am going all technical in my comments here but I guess I am not the person to dig out all kinds of poetic artisic opinions
But I do assume that someone is getting married
The reflections were intentional but they weren’t as strong as the ones in your kitchen sound. I do like reflected surfaces though and have to try your suggestion. I did try the cup on the bottom and the teapot on the top but when I put the three images together they seemed out of balance.
No-one’s getting married Eli at least that wasn’t the intention of the image…more like when two people are in love they feel like one person. All in the theme for Valentine’s Day…
I love the way you’ve formatted this into a triptych. Very effective, graphic way to tell a story.
Thanks Erin! The layout was a result of how each element was photographed but I do think it works.
I’ve always wanted a nifty tea-for-one set like this… except drowning a tea bag in a mug appeals to my lazy side.
I really like the concept of this image, except I think your subjects would benefit from a crop that’s a little less close to give them some room to breathe. Lighting your background a bit to bring out its texture (shine a torch/iPhone at the wall from below?) would help to separate them from their background and give it that painting like look (e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevsyd/2468399429/).
Is this a special tea set?
Gah, that link’s not working. try this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevsyd/4567261843/
This guy’s still life knocks my socks.
Excellent suggestions, Charlene! I will go back and redo this because I think the idea is strong but the execution needs work. Thanks for the link too…great images!
Definitely a strong idea. I didn’t see it on the screen this morning for some reason (in my defense, I was barely awake!), but I just noticed the reflections of the saucer, cup and pot on the surface you’ve placed them on.
Depending on what you want to do, i think bringing giving those reflections some room to make them more visible, would strengthen the sense of placement of these objects, and also how the separate pot and cup coming to make the one strong, sturdy set.
Gives the viewer (or, me, rather) a feeling that it’s sitting on a strong base, because I can see where it connects to the surface. I don’t think I’ve explained myself too well here… does that make sense?
Makes sense to me. Is that scary? What’s even more terrifying is that you sound like the other me. He said the same thing about giving more room to the subject matter and the lighting…
I knew there was a reason I liked you!
Both, that is
I really like your triptych. I wish I have not read neither all other comments nor your post, now I feel influenced by them. And the fact is that the symbolism of the image was not what I saw on it. I focused on how beautiful the every-day objects looked on the black background. I am used to photograph everything in my little home corner studio on white background for microstock submissions. Your photographs on dark background have a completely different feel to it, which I am sure would be lost on clean, sterile white background. The black background accents the mood, and the beautiful light falling on pot and cup makes then stand out. And I love the reflection in their shiny surfaces. It all feels so contemporary and simple.