A630 photos of sculpture from my first sessions

[Bill B.]

These were done indoors with lighting from two 26 watt full spectrum compact flourescent bulbs. There was a little light from an open overhead door 30 feet away, no flash. Camera was set to ISO 80, cloudy, 10 sec self timer, fine and 2592 x 1944 pixels in manual.

The rose was flipped horizontally, both were cropped, resized, pasted to Appleworks and saved as medium compression .jpg files. No other manipulation (still learning that). Exposure was one second at f8, 7.3mm.

I am very happy with the A630.

The flower heads are 14-16" across. They are cold formed, cold rolled steel.

[Bill B.]

Error! I shot them in Av not Manual.

Any CC welcome!

[cody1111]

Good job Bill.

[Olegis]

Very nice !
What is the purpose of these pictures - is it advertising for the artist who makes the roses ?

[Bill B.]

Not at all; I'm looking for technical input. Comments, etc. I zoom in and look around and they look good, but I am not a photographer. Images like these may represent me among over 1000 people trying for 100 places in an art show.

Read the rules on posting images and it talks about copyright, hence the name and mark. Maybe they are not appropriate. Should I remove the name or images?

[Olegis]

Oh, no - I didn't mean it this way :o
What I mean is - if these pictures are for advertising, then (in my opinion) they lack some "punch", something that will make the objects really stand out. Maybe it's the background color, maybe it's the lighting - maybe it's both. I really can't point my finger at the exact "something".
If these pictures were made for the photography only, then I really would change the lighting - maybe use side lighting with black background in order to make the images more dramatic.

[Bill B.]

Sorry I misinterpeted your question, and read right over "very nice" and didn't respond to that. Thanks for the complement and your opinion on the "punch" of them.

They are advertising in a way of the highest order. It's one shot to a small group of people voting an artist into an art show.

I prefer to use only a black background but learned it may be better to have more variety for the jury. The color presents a challenge because it reflects all over the steel. From the other thread I started on aperture I got some good advice and inspiration. I'm going to try a greater distance between the camera, object and background. I will take your advice and light from one side, maybe add another fixture as well. I am very curious if they looked correct technically.

The large things I have to photograph are a huge challenge, what I can learn on these will help.

[Olegis]

I am very curious if they looked correct technically.

In my opinion these pictures look fine technically. I think that if you can present them in more "artistic" way, they will look even better ;)

Does it have to be whole object in frame, or maybe you can focus on some part of it ? You can make some pretty good macro shots of these flowers, or focus on some specific part of them ?

Look in my flora gallery (http://www.pbase.com/olegis/flowers) to see what I mean (there are some pictures of roses too), you may find the ideas helpful.

[Bill B.]

Thanks again Olegis,

It would be great if creative photos were acceptable. That would be much easier for me. Your point and the images in your gallery do refresh the idea of limiting the area of focus rather than trying to get everything in perfectly though. I'm going to experiment with that.

Can you tell me the name of the the plant in image http://www.pbase.com/olegis/image/33200245? One of the objects I'm trying to photograph is a giant steel thistle, it's similar to that. I enjoy the math (and spirals) in nature as much as the forms.

Have you entered art shows with your photography? If not you should, it is very good.

[Olegis]

Can you tell me the name of the the plant in image http://www.pbase.com/olegis/image/33200245?

As a matter of fact - I have no clue :oops:

Have you entered art shows with your photography? If not you should, it is very good.

Thanks. Nope, I haven't - but I gave it a thought or two. I may try it someday :)

[harish28]

Very good job bill.. Loved the photos..

[Roddie]

Nice photos, and beautiful metal work. I find myself wanting to look more inside the flowers, perhaps change the angle a bit to show off the layers. Nice work Bill.

[Bill B.]

Thanks Roddie and Hari for the compliments and ideas.

I am going to try to be more creative but still representative on the next subjects