I broke this one intentionally

[Mike Buckley]

I broke this wine glass so I could include some of its pieces in a photograph I have already posted. Fortunately, the resulting breakage works just fine all on its own; this photo is of all parts of the intentionally broken glass.

[Digital]

Mike, IMHO the glass fragments on the right need to be scattered out a little bit. As it stands now they look like they have been swept into a pile.


Bruce

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

I love the left half of the image for the beautiful clarity, shadows and light, and bits of glass flying about, and the sense of motion in the base of the glass.

[Dusty]

Agree with Bruce, the left side of the image is fine but the right side I would take a lot of the broken glass away and arrange just a few pieces in a nice arty way, good concept.
Dave.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone! I'll try cleaning up the right side even though I especially like the pile of broken glass.

[ShaneS]

Mike;

I don't mind the pile of glass at all but it think it need some more empty space to the right to balance this image (similar to the amount o f space on the left maybe?). Right now it looks cut (I hope you weren't ) off.

I like the compositional elements that lead your eye through the frame from left to right getting smaller as you go and as usual the lighting and resulting reflections are beautiful.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the idea, Shane. No, I wasn't cut, but I did come close to it a couple of times.

[Bobobird]

To me it looks like - there was this cup, it broke, someone swept up the broken pieces and then took a photo. Works fine for me. The right side does need a bit of space to complete my mental picture.

Lighting, shadows etc all superb as usual.

[AndrewMcD]

I think this is a stunning image. At the risk of sounding a little flakey; I like the left to right flow, the stem left standing alone, the large piece pointing to the pile of debris; I almost hear a conversation. I agree just a little space to the right might improve things.
Mike - Can you point me to sources of info on how one approaches doing this sort of photography? The technical aspects of creating the lighting systems and the reflective surfaces must be great fun; something I would really like to attempt.
Andrew

[Mike Buckley]

Andrew,

If you're flaky for seeing the flow from left to right, I'm even more flaky for designing the image that way. Thanks for noticing it!

This photo makes use of a bright field background that produces the dark lines that define the shape of the glass. A dark field background will produce white lines that define the shape. There are other ways to produce the dark or bright lines by using white or black boards that reflect or subtract light, respectively. I have never used them because I got so used to using this method that seems to produce the same look.

The setup for this photo is a light source shining from behind through translucent white acrylic. (The translucent acrylic is important, especially when it is included in the image. That's because, unlike tracing paper and anything else I have used, it transmits light perfectly evenly. Its reflection rather than the background itself is included in this particular image.) The broken glass is on an opaque, black acrylic tabletop, which reflects the glass of course as well as the light shining through the background. The camera is positioned to photograph only the glass and the tabletop, not the background, thus eliminating the horizon.

For lots more details about photographing glass and just about every kind of subject, I highly recommend the fourth edition of Light: Science and Magic, which includes an explanation of how to use dark field and bright field backgrounds. For information about using black or white boards to produce similar styles of images, I recommend Lighting and Photographing Transparent and Translucent Surfaces, which I learned of from Terry (LooseCanon).

[AndrewMcD]

Thank you Mike, just the sort of information I was hoping for. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Andrew

[cliffmccartney]

Mike - I love the image. The lighting is wonderful. I wish I could light something like that.

I agree that the shards on the right should be scattered a bit, but I do love the tighter crop on the image and I'd hate to lose it. Maybe fewer pieces would tell the story?

Wonderful shot, as usual. I always love your work.

[Loose Canon]

Beautifully lit and composed as always Mike.

I especially like the non-horizon approach.

I'm not sure the Glass Snowmen are as eager to do a shoot with you now though!

[Mike Buckley]

Please assure the Glass Snowmen that they are safe. I'm much more careful with people of all ilks, including glass.

[Wavelength]

I liked it ...but i am not happy that the broken pieces are not fully within the frame which makes it incomplete

Regards