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April 16, 2011
Kathy
One Comment

Photographing Glass

Posted in Art Work

Photographing Glass

I have some new painted wine glasses that are up on my Etsy shop this weekend. I enjoy using a different kind of paint and the challenge of a non flat surface. I used a smaller wine goblet this time and they came out very well. Now how to convey how beautiful they are in a photograph……..

My struggle with glass and an online shop is getting great  photographs that show off the wine glasses. Thank goodness for digital cameras or I would be wasting a lot of film. I find that I take wonderful photos of the reflections of my windows and of me with my camera, instead of the features of the wine glasses. : – )   So until I learn a simple way of doing it correctly, I muddle through and here are some tips on not what to do:

A background should enhance your glass: 

Poor background and too much reflection  This did not. And there is way too much reflection.

The lighting needs to be good.   Below, in an effort to correct the reflection, the flash overcompensated for the reduced light.  And…… there still is too much reflection.

LIghting issues

I changed the background to one that would compliment the daintiness of the flowers and took it all outside. Natural sunlight has it's own set of problems as well. Too much direct light washed out the painting below.

Too much direct light

Eventually I got some decent photos.  One could have been cropped better but the glasses looked good.  Here's two images I ended up using. 

Taken inside near a sunny window This one was taken inside near a sunny window

Taken outside in natural sunlightThis was taken outside in the sunlight.

After quite of bit of what not to do, I got a few decent photos.  I included both images in my shop write up. Each one shows the painting on the glass nicely.  These are some of the challenges I hadn't considered with an online shop.  The photos are so important to your online success. I will be reading up and improving my photos for the next time.  For now  – that's a peek behind my easel.

April 15, 2011
Kathy
One Comment

Shell Reference Photos

Posted in Reference Photos

Shell Reference Photos

I'm working on a painting that has shells in it. I have a basket of shells from New England shores and Florida that I pull out for reference.  Sometimes I'll stage them in a tray of sand.  I've even staged them in a tray of sand with flip flops for a painting. You can see a peek at the results on my blog header above. 

I  photograph them as well. When they sit in sunlight it allows me to see the true colors and where the natural highlights and shadows lie .  It's also really helpful to have photos too when something fragile like a shell  is suddenly in pieces on the floor.  While looking for guilty faces, you can still move forward on your painting. 

A really simple way way of photographing them is to lay them on a piece of foam board. The foam board is sturdy enough to move around with the shells to adjust the way the light falls or carry the whole set up outside. I photograph outside in sunlight or set up next to a sunny window.  The white of the foam board allows me to see how the shadows of the shells fall. The piece of sea glass on the lower right photo has an interesting shadow.  Here is some of my shell reference photos:

Shell reference photos

April 12, 2011
Kathy
4 Comments

Spring Yellow

Posted in Reference Photos

Spring Yellow

All the early spring flowers are bursting in bloom!  My favorite time of spring.  It's not hot yet, the bugs are still where ever they stay for winter, and the first flowers are blooming like crazy. I've noticed around here in Pennsylvania that yellow and pink seem to be the big colors for the spring floral season.  Add a few flashes of white too

My favorite part is seeing a pairing of  a bush or tree with a matching flower.  For instance, in a past yard, we unknowingly planted pink hyacinth under a cherry tree.  What a delicious pairing – they both bloomed at the same time, in the same shade of pink.  In my yard now, yellow daffodils are planted next to forsythia. Both bloom at the same time for a wonderful burst of yellow.    Enjoy the Spring colors !

Forsythia and Daffodils in Bloom


April 10, 2011
Kathy
One Comment

Musing on Slides to Digital Files

Posted in Musing About Art

Musing on Slides to Digital Files

I was looking through the vast amount of Word Press plug ins this evening and got thinking about how much has changed in such a short time.  With a click or two, you can do what was impossible a few years ago.

When I started entering my art work into juried art shows, slides were the only acceptable form of entering your  work. I spent many hours dragging canvases outside  to get the proper lighting, hoping I was getting at least one good slide out of the film roll. It took several days before the slide film came back before I could see if I had any slide that would be good enough for getting into a show. More than one time, I had to quickly drag everything back outside and retake the slides and beg the photo shop to rush the order to make it  in time for the deadline.  Slides had to be label according to the show's requirements, and that varied from show to show. And to top it off, some shows didn't return your slides. Today, in under an hour, I can grab my digital camera, shoot a few shots and see immediately whether I have good photos, head to the computer and load up the photos to be on their way to be juried.  Heaven for an always late artist! I love being able to see instantly whether or not I have a decent photo.

One day I will figure out where to go to get photos from my slides so I have simple access to all of my work. Like other artists who straddle the changed technology, I have sold art work that the only record of it is in a slide.  

I will be enjoying the simplicity and ease of my digital camera this weekend and sharing photos here later on this week.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!