Teardrop

[Loose Canon]

Well, it looks like I have accidently entered into a barter arrangement with the local glassmaker’s shop after they saw the shot on this thread!

Goods and services in exchange for goods and services!

Might be fun if I can get a good flow of Houses of Mirrors (aka glass art) to play with!
They sent a couple of pieces to start. They say they are struggling with their paperweight representation and they have received an order from the local University who wants to have around 30 ‘weights done for staff appreciation purposes/retirements. They also mount custom pieces on a base with inscribed plates for awards, etc. along with their artistic endeavors.

They liked the dark field shot. They would since it takes way more effort and time!

Jeez! I’m becoming a glass groupie!

If I wanted to work for a living I’d get a real job (oh wait, I already have one)! No matter! Once they see the crap I’m going to send them they’ll renege and I can go back to being a Grateful Dead groupie!

Here is one of the trials. I’m screwed!

[NorthernFocus]

Yeah, you've got a problem. I hope you like glass....

[Loose Canon]

The only glass I ever liked until now was the short one I mixed my cocktail in, Dan!

[Stagecoach]

And many people say it's hard to get work. Great image, are we going to see more ?

Grahame

[Mike Buckley]

Everything works great for me except that the horizontal orientation used in combination with a vertical subject never does. Consider using less space on the side so the result is a vertical orientation.

Try using tabletops that are different colors. As an example, would a red tabletop complement this particular piece of glass?

If you're concerned about becoming a glass groupie, I regret to inform you that you seem to have already arrived.

[RustBeltRaw]

Try using tabletops that are different colors. As an example, would a red tabletop complement this particular piece of glass?

I'm not sure how well that would work. These are product shots, so I think a clean background is probably the way to go. Black does a great job of showing the glass's details.

If you're concerned about becoming a glass groupie, I regret to inform you that you seem to have already arrived.

I've been a roller derby photographer for two years. Now I'm learning to roller skate. So apparently this phenomenon is common.

[Andrew1]

Take the challenge Terry. If you are going to do it, do it well. Search out some photos of glass and on the better ones you like try and figure out how it was lit and why. Try different things and do the best you can. You may get past the barter arrangement you have with them as they grow and perhaps even pick up some other opportunities within the art community.

[Loose Canon]

And many people say it's hard to get work. Great image, are we going to see more ?

Grahame

Hi Grahame!

I wasn’t really looking for any work! Thank you for commenting! I expect you will see some more of this stuff!

Now it has escalated from shooting paperweights to shooting their showpieces for a portfolio that they can submit for high end juried art shows. Then they are looking for more of their entire production product throughout their entire price line for middle end shows! So it’s shaping up for me to shoot nothing but glass for a while!

I wish I could have got something easy like dogs and kids!

Everything works great for me except that the horizontal orientation used in combination with a vertical subject never does.

Ohhhh… I don’t know, Mike! I don’t think that’s always the case! What about horizontal aspects of portraits? I do, however, think you are right about this one! I submitted a vertical version today. Thank you for mentioning that.

Try using tabletops that are different colors. As an example, would a red tabletop complement this particular piece of glass?

Lex again hit the nail on the head, Mike. I like colored backgrounds and foregrounds. And a think a nice deep (not too candy apple cherry) red would look nice with this piece. I’m going to keep that in mind.



But they are making the calls on this now. For their show submissions they are going to require a gray (possibly gradient) background. Then we might have some fun on the rest of the stuff.

If you're concerned about becoming a glass groupie, I regret to inform you that you seem to have already arrived.

Yeah, I know Mike! Glass blows! (nyuck, nyuck!)

I've been a roller derby photographer for two years. Now I'm learning to roller skate. So apparently this phenomenon is common.

I’d be scared to death skating around the outside of a roller derby track looking through a viewfinder, Lex! Anything to get the shot, eh?

Take the challenge Terry. If you are going to do it, do it well. Search out some photos of glass and on the better ones you like try and figure out how it was lit and why. Try different things and do the best you can. You may get past the barter arrangement you have with them as they grow and perhaps even pick up some other opportunities within the art community.

Andrew, thank you for the words of encouragement and advice.

I am going to jump right into the big middle of this. I may or not do it well, but it darn sure won’t be for lack of trying.

If the Blowers like it, I’m going to be up to my a** in gla**!

Does the phrase “Bull in a China shop” ring a bell?

[Mike Buckley]

Glass blows! (nyuck, nyuck!)

You really ought to be ashamed of yourself. I'm sure your mother taught you better.

[Mike Buckley]

If the client is going to insist on a grey background, I would be inclined to use a gradient that is dark at the bottom and becomes grey near the top, which would make most of the background dark. You might want to submit a few examples that display the advantages and disadvantages of various background schemes.

[Mike Buckley]

Lex,

You really nailed me, and rightfully so, about my comment that I never like horizontally oriented photos when the subject is vertically oriented. The operative word that should always be a no-no is "never." So, I'll modify that to be that I rarely like that situation unless a lot more space is used one side than on the other side.

[Loose Canon]

You really ought to be ashamed of yourself. I'm sure your mother taught you better.

I am and she did! It is certainly not my Dear Sainted Mother’s fault I turned out this way! She did everything she could! I’m just no damn good, Mike!

If the client is going to insist on a grey background, I would be inclined to use a gradient that is dark at the bottom and becomes grey near the top, which would make most of the background dark. You might want to submit a few examples that display the advantages and disadvantages of various background schemes.

Well,… let me bounce this off you Mike. I had in mind an opposite gradient going from gray to dark, bottom to top to represent the light fall-off.

I have already submitted two examples in accordance to the Client’s inquiries. We have discussed the various backgrounds and whether they want the product to “float” or be grounded. They lean more toward grounding and some shadow. I am hoping they will because I think it is a more elegant way to shoot their pieces and not so much an “E-Bay floating” style. But the choice is their’s and I’ll shoot it the way they want it! They have indicated that they are probably not interested in a “mirror reflection” kind of foreground.

Since I don’t presently have any gray seamless on hand, I shot this with seamless white and was just a quickie to present to the Client so they could get an idea how this might work for them. It was all I had at the time to work with at the moment. I made it gray with the lighting arrangement. I can also do a dark field with white seamless all the way from 0 to 255 white depending on how I light it and control it in post. Prefer other materials for a zero background though.

[Mike Buckley]

If they want it to be grounded, you might want to ask them to consider including an horizon. It could be very blurred and indistinct, but that would add to the feeling of being grounded.

There is something about the grey background and the lighting that, when combined, make me feel as if the photo appears more two-dimensional than your first photo of this subject.

How does your client get around the fact that the colors change immensely depending on your lighting? Their client might complain when they buy the product online that the colors aren't the same in the photo as when they look at it in their home or office?

[Loose Canon]

There is something about the grey background and the lighting that, when combined, make me feel as if the photo appears more two-dimensional than your first photo of this subject.

I was hoping that a BG gradient would help alleviate that a bit. What I want to try to avoid is shooting these on an evenly lit stark white background. So far the Client hasn’t mentioned that they think the product appears to be more 2D, nor do I think they will even notice if it does.

What they have mentioned is that for some reason the show juries prefer the product against a gray BG and advise against black. They don’t seem to know why this is. But at least for the photos they submit for jury I’m probably going to have to work within set parameters.

How does your client get around the fact that the colors change immensely depending on your lighting? Their client might complain when they buy the product online that the colors aren't the same in the photo as when they look at it in their home or office?

It is interesting that you mention this, Mike. I’m trying to get a grip on how this glass is made and what, exactly, I need to be looking for in order to successfully shoot this stuff! I haven’t been a Glass Groupie for very long yet and the fewer surprises the better at the actual shoot!

I am going to assume, at least at this time, that to avoid misrepresentation they want their product to appear as it does on display in their shop.

As an example of what you are talking about Mike, there is no such thing as “black” on this glass planet! While it appears black while you are holding it in your hand, it is actually a deep supersaturated purple or possibly green. So you are right on the $$ Mike (as usual)! Since most all of this material is translucent to some degree, if you light through it, it will change the appearance/color. Sometimes unrecognizably so.

What is more is that depending on how long they “settle”, or “fine” (big glassblowing jargon there!) their raw material, there may be thousands of tiny bubbles in the finished product. This translates into thousands of tiny spectral highlights. So tiny that I didn’t even notice this the first time I was holding one of their pieces, but my camera sure did! This too has been mentioned to the Client, which is how I found out what causes it.

And here’s another happy fun thing!

If you sidelight certain pieces, such as a paperweight with “stuff” inside of it, the “stuff” will throw internal shadows onto the other “stuff” inside the piece! I suspect that this is one reason they are struggling with their DIY shooting of their own 'weights.

Though I am talking to the Client about some of the things I notice (read: have to solve), it is mostly for my own information. At the end of the day it’s really not their problem.

It’s mine!