Turkish teapot

[Mike Buckley]

Though this Turkish teapot is inexpensive and not made particularly well, it serves as a great memento of our trip to Turkey in May 2008 and especially of enjoying tea on the grounds outside Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. Hopefully Binnur or someone can explain what each half is used for because neither my wife nor I can remember.

Setup
The tabletop and background are a single sheet of thin, textured, dark brown art paper. A medium continuous-light lamp was on the left and a small one was on the right. Both lamps were fitted with a diffusion sock and were placed as close as possible to the subject to ensure the softest possible shadows. Both lamps were also flagged on the rear to prevent light from falling onto the background. A white reflector was above the subject to brighten its top and to ensure that area's separation from the background.

[pnodrog]

Well, you have used both halves very effectively.

[Dave Humphries]

Another shot demonstrating that no-one can exploit the tonal range in still life as you can Mike
(that's a compliment, to be clear)

Nor can many light as well.

Are the areas with a green tinge due to different metals used in construction of spout, handle and rim of lid?

TIA, Dave

[Sergio M.]

+1 to what Dave said.

The lighting works wonderfully to give the teapot shape and form. In addition to the lighting at the top to separate it from the background, I like the splash of light at the bottom which grounds the teapot and prevents it from looking like it's floating in air. Also beautiful detail shown in the design on the teapot.

Sergio

[Shadowman]

I don't typically purchase items such as these, but this photograph would be an incentive to purchase. Nicely captured.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

This comparatively simple shot actually became one of the most difficult shots I have ever made, though that is only because it is only the second time I've seriously photographed a subject that is entirely made of metal, and worse, curved metal. After spending longer than I want to admit creating the first setup, I was using three straight reflectors, one curved reflector, two flags, two lights and a tabletop that is the color of copper that looked fantastic with the subject insofar as the color is concerned. There were two huge problems: The lighting looked terrible and two parts of the subject reflected the tabletop so strongly in two areas at the bottom that the subject's color and texture were disguised. That was because the tabletop and background material produced too much of a direct reflection. That also caused hugely time-consuming havoc with the area of the material being used as the background. Add to all of that the limitations of working in my makeshift studio (I accidentally punched a hole in the background area of the material) and it was pure ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!

So, I finally came to my senses. (Yes, that's eventually possible even for me.) That meant changing the tabletop and background material to a material that produces a more typical, mostly diffuse reflection. I also didn't like the reflections in the subject being produced by the reflectors, so I simply removed all of them from the setup except the one that brightened the top. We've all heard the adage that sometimes less is more and the final setup compared to the first one is a perfect example.

Are the areas with a green tinge due to different metals used in construction of spout, handle and rim of lid?

Yes. The outside of the bowls and tops seem to be made of copper. Their insides might be something like tin and the spouts and handles seem to be made of brass. There was something about the lighting that emphasized the discoloration in the spouts. I never figured out why that happened, but I liked it and left it as is.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike Let me explain how to make tea: First some tea is put into the top part and some cold water is put to the bottom part. When the water boils , some of the boiling water is poured over the tea in the top part and some cold water is added to the bottom part . The tea in the top part is brewed for some time while the water is boiling again in the bottom part.For serving, the half of the tea glass is filled with brewed tea from the top part and the other half of the tea glass is filled with boiling water from the botttom part.You can add some sugar if you want according to your taste.

[Mike Buckley]

Ahhhhhhhhh, yes. That's how the tea was prepared and served to us. The water was poured through tea leaves collected in a metal sieve. Thanks, Binnur!

[Rita]

I would say that great justice has been given to the teapot

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Rita!

[Wavelength]

Truly Majestic

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Nandakumar!