Generally around this time of year, I get stuck inside not because of bad weather, but because I am tired of the scenery outdoors.
I get weary of the same black/brown/white scenery that is being offered up outside and in the woods.
So I get out my craft stuff and start making a mess. I am all over the place. I can be painting a skull or thinking about photographing Still Life. The table can be littered with various paints, my 'craft' table has projects and 'stuff' all over it.
However, I am getting better and not leaving a mess in the house all of the time. I don't like clutter, so by the end of the day, I generally tidy up and put things away. The house is too tiny to clutter up all the surfaces.
I started messing around with the white skull. It looked nice in all white, but I wanted to add shades of silver and grey. The pearl white showed up very nice and the black looked out of place.
Hubby liked the black on the skull and asked for more of it. In the photo below, the various shades of grey and white do show up. I turned the light box on its side and used a white tea towel. I kept moving things around...
I ended up using masking tape to attach the tea towel to the sides of the box.
--- of course, Farmer Bob was very helpful in taking care of things....
The towel experiment didn't work out so well so I went back to the basic white plastic back drop.
Hmmm. This sort of sucked too. However, there is always a possibility of a little editing to help out. I used ON1 and made the shot into more of a High Key shot which eliminated the box edges.
The result was satisfactory, so I went on to experiment with a tiny pitcher I'd picked up ages ago at an indoor flea market.
the set up...
the shot...
the edit...
I actually liked the slight textures from the towel in this shot. It felt right. Of course, I should have had something else in the shot, but I was just experimenting with light and exposure.
I experimented with different lights and different ways to diffuse or soften the light. I wanted to use things that I had on hand. Below is a flashlight with an amber pill bottle as a diffuser, a plastic cap on another light, and even bubble wrap!
Rich walked by and just shook his head.
However, before it got too bright out, I decided to see what the purple light and bubble wrap over the flashlight would do.
Purple light in back, flashlight in my hand from
the right.
What it looked like with the curtains opened and taken with my very crappy cell phone:
somebody wants to get out and explore....
I also prefer the photo of the pitcher with the towel and I think with just the pitcher is good. This must have kept you busy all day, Charlie says it's Charlie time now.
ReplyDeleteI tipped that pitcher upside down and discovered that it is a numbered pitcher! It had paint splatters on it and I got it cleaned up. No name on the bottom though, just #7/278 on it. I wonder what that means if anything.
DeleteIt's true, you won't run out of ideas. Plenty more where that came from. These experiments are a lot of fun to follow.
ReplyDeleteI have two left hands when it comes to knitting or crocheting or anything like that. However, this stuff fascinates me. Thanks!
DeleteFun stuff! Poor Charlie has cabin fever! Hope he got a good walk!
ReplyDeleteCharlie and I did a 2 hr hike and he loved it. He was dragging this evening, so he got worn out.
DeleteI love the haunted castle! Very spooky. I miss the days of experimenting with the pics and lighting on my Origami. We even bought a shadow box for pics of the finished pieces, but I never liked any of them. ( As my blog usually said.) It was most likely the phone camera that was the blame.... But then again, I simply did not have as much time behind the camera to figure out the finer points and things. I thought the Deer skull turned out awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks, generally skulls look so much better on a black background but I wanted to try white. The light box works okay for specific things but not all!
DeleteI've always thought your Origami was wonderful!
Ohh I like the purple lightening! Bet it would look good with/through the skull. Purple/black/white is a good color combo :)
ReplyDeleteThe pitcher numbering means it was the seventh one made in a series of 278. You got an early one! Back in the day, some company names were applied with stickers but piece numbering is written (or etched) on the actual piece.
Awesome on the pitcher and interesting also.
DeleteI tried a light under the skull and it wasn't diffused enough but gave off a funky purple glow. I may try again with the skull in the dark and a light in each eye.
At least it is fun to try!
Thanks!