Pairs of Glass Vessels

[Mike Buckley]

If one of these compositions works better for you than the others, I would appreciate knowing which one and why.


Photo #1



Photo #2



Photo #3



Photo #4

[Digital]

Not your best work with glass.


Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Not your best work with glass.

It would be helpful if you would expand upon that.

[Digital]

Mike, I liked your work with glass when you worked with multiple units (more than two). All of these pics look plain to me.
With the others there appeared to be a more imaginative process when you arranged the composition.



Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not sure what you mean by plain as a detriment, as I intentionally made them plain. Your and my concepts of plain may be different...or the same.

[Digital]

My concept of plain: lack of creativity, imagination. I do not think you meant these photo to show lack of creativity or imagination.


Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Ahhhhhh. Thanks for clarifying that, Bruce. Now I understand your very helpful comment.

[JPS]

Hi Mike,
you asked in your OP "If one of these compositions works better for you than the others, I would appreciate knowing which one and why. "
IMHO number 4 works the best. I like symmetry in this type of picture and number 4 is the nearest in achieving that. I don't know if that was intentional on your part or not, but it works for me.

Cheers
John

[Mike Buckley]

Your comment about the symmetry, John, is interesting. I don't know much about art and my biggest weakness when setting up these shots is that I'm not a designer. So, my safest compositions are symmetrical; every time I create an asymmetrical scene I feel as if it comes less naturally to me and has a greater chance of not working. Yet when I do create an asymmetrical scene that works for me, it really works.

[Brownbear]

#1 for the sense of motion. I also like #3 but for some reason I wish I could see the bottom of the glass vessels (only in #3) but I'm not sure why.

[Mike Buckley]

I wish I could see the bottom of the glass vessels (only in #3).

Do you mean that you wish I hadn't cropped off the small part of the bottom of each glass or do you mean that you wish I had used a different angle that displays at least part of the bottom surface?

[Brownbear]

That you had not cropped off the small bit of the bottom of each glass. I like the angle.

Do you mean that you wish I hadn't cropped off the small part of the bottom of each glass or do you mean that you wish I had used a different angle that displays at least part of the bottom surface?

[Mike Buckley]

This version is for Christina.

Photo #5 -- Revised Version of #3

[Brownbear]

Thank you Mike... I like this one the best of this set, not just because it is for me , or uncropped but because the lighting seems to be more pronounced.

This version is for Christina.

Photo #5 -- Revised Version of #3

[FootLoose]

#1 & #3 work because there is a power relationship between the two bodies. Though somewhat similar, it is different in each one. For example, on first viewing I gained the impression that the object on the right was talking loudly to the object on the left -- which was paying attention. In #3 however, the object on the left appears to be 'ignoring' the speech.

PS Mike have you looked into gestalt theory and perception? It is something that has only come to my attention recently (came across it in a book I am currently reading), but it occurs to me that that theory might explain some of the relationships I see in your glass work, and so I think it might be useful to you in setting up your arrangements.

[Mike Buckley]

It's wonderful, Greg, that you picked up on that relationship in the two images. I didn't intend it but I'm always open to the probability that others will see things that I didn't imagine and don't see afterward.

Unfortunately, I've only heard of gestalt theory; never learned what it is.

[ajsmith]

Mike,

Coming from a wanna be graphic designer, the first thing I noticed about the photos is that the space between the bottles is about the same in all of the photos. Try moving them apart/closer. Use the rule of thirds to position the bottles near the intersecting lines.

I like number one from the four you have posted. I like the cropped corners and the vertical and horizontal placement. The light also makes the one on the left look like it is half full and the right one is empty.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for your comments, Ali, and good luck with your pursuit of graphic design!

The idea in photo #1 that one vessel appears half full and the other one appears half empty never occurred to me until you mentioned it. I just love learning what different people "see."

The space between the vessels is approximately the same for a couple reasons: That would be one of the unifying elements just in case some of the photos worked well when combined as a set (though there were no guarantees about that and I'm not really thrilled with them as a set now that I have made them). Alternatively, I could perhaps learn something about what I like and dislike about the various compositions that I might not learn if that space between the vessels was one of the variables.

You might not have seen my other photographs of glass over the past year that explore all sorts of different compositions that aren't represented at all in this particular set.

[terrib]

Mike, I like them all except for #2. For me, #2 seems off balance. In the others, one glass seems to balance with the other one. I also don't particularly like how the lighting caused so much darkness in the glass on the right of #2. I'm having trouble deciding but I think I like #1 the best.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for checking in, Terri. Very helpful!