Black & Red

[Manfred M]

I've tried something that borders on the abstract here.

I photographyed two black vases, that I lit with a gobo the creates patterns of dark and light areas. Just to confuse things a bit more, I used a red gel on the light.

[DanK]

An interesting technical exercise--I remain awed by your mastery of lighting--but I have to say that as an image, this doesn't do anything for me. It doesn't have an interesting main focus, and in terms of drawing th eye, the dark areas near the cop compete with the vases.

[Manfred M]

An interesting technical exercise--I remain awed by your mastery of lighting--but I have to say that as an image, this doesn't do anything for me. It doesn't have an interesting main focus, and in terms of drawing th eye, the dark areas near the cop compete with the vases.

Thanks Dan - I agree. This is something that was more experimental to see what does and does not work. I think the concept is okay, but the execution is not strong enough. Light and shadows (hence the black vases) is interesting. This did not work well with light coloured subjects; just too busy.

[Dave Humphries]

Hmmm, that's an odd one Manfred.

When I look closely at the left hand vase, I almost imagine that it has been masked and the image part removed, I see no 3D contours within the vase-shape, only below right of it, on the surface it is on.

It is the different texture of the reflection in the right hand vase that gives it some interest for me, perhaps what was reflected on the left vase distracted? Or you accidentally didn't reveal the layer in post?

I note in this and your By window light post, you seem to be trying compositions with pairs of things recently, where traditional advice suggests odd numbers of subjects/interests are more pleasing. That's not a criticism, just an observation - it's good to experiment.

Dave

[Manfred M]

Hmmm, that's an odd one Manfred.

When I look closely at the left hand vase, I almost imagine that it has been masked and the image part removed, I see no 3D contours within the vase-shape, only below right of it, on the surface it is on.

It is the different texture of the reflection in the right hand vase that gives it some interest for me, perhaps what was reflected on the left vase distracted? Or you accidentally didn't reveal the layer in post?

I note in this and your By window light post, you seem to be trying compositions with pairs of things recently, where traditional advice suggests odd numbers of subjects/interests are more pleasing. That's not a criticism, just an observation - it's good to experiment.

Dave

Thanks for the comment Dave.

Absolutely nothing has been masked. The difference between the two vases is that light has been reflected from the right one, while the left one has not been touched by the light coming through the gobo. The one on the left is flat, due to very diffuse light hitting it. The one on the right has a highlight, where the light and that adds depth.

As for the "rule of odds", 1, 3, 5 elememts make a stronger composition seems to have no actual science behind it. When two (or more) objects are in close proximity or overlap, they become a single subject. This is something I have heard from a number of photographers whose opinion I respect. Sometimes one object is too simple while three gets too complex. Two is a good trade-off

Both sets of images you are referring to are definitely experimental to see where I might take this lighting style and I definitely feel I can improve them.