Teapot

[Manfred M]

The weather looks rather iffy right now and I needed a photoshoot fix, so off to the basement with a couples of lights, a snoot, blue gel and a grid spot. The victim; a Japanese cast iron teapot and stand.

All taken on black seamless.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Manfred, I like the image How did you use the blue gel? with flash ?

[Manfred M]

Basic setup shown in the image:



Two lights with black seamless. Both lights were gelled with a blue gel; I used a snoot on one to give a very hard, direct beam that cast a hard shadow and the second light, with the barn doors and reflector was used for fill light. I moved the lights, so they were not in this position for the posted shot.

[Mike Buckley]

Gotta love that shadow! Not to mention the overall concept.

Examine every edge to see if you can't increase the separation between subject and background in a few places to perfect the image.

EDIT: I question your setup; there is no camera on the tripod.

[terrib]

You guys who imagine inventive ways to photograph ordinary objects amaze me. This is not in my repertoire.

I like it a lot, although I can't describe why.

[KimC]

Gorgeous!

[Loose Canon]

Hi Manfred,

The blue gels work nicely on the cast. Looks great.

I can certainly appreciate the challenges of shooting black on black.

I'm wondering why you chose not to fire a rim?

[Manfred M]

Mike - Absolutely, the image is all about the shadow, but I'm not having much luck defining the edge along the back side of the tea pot. I brought in a third light, which helps with the definition (I have to hand hold that gel, but find that I don't like the way it lightens the shadow. I shouldn't need more than 2 lights, so I'm going to play with it in the morning.

Good catch on the tripod....

[Manfred M]

Hi Manfred,

The blue gels work nicely on the cast. Looks great.

I can certainly appreciate the challenges of shooting black on black.

I'm wondering why you chose not to fire a rim?

Mostly because it lightened up the area I want the shadow to fall too much. I might try coming over the top with a strip light that I add a blue gel to and will see if I can get that to work. I don't have a lot of room to work where I am shooting this.

[Loose Canon]

Comping was out?

[Manfred M]

Comping was out?

No, not out, just trying to do it in camera. If that fails, comping is in...

[Loose Canon]

Gotcha! Just curious is all!

Great shot! I really like the gelled light on this.

[Mike Buckley]

Good catch on the tripod....

You can always count on me to have a firm grasp of the obvious.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[wilgk]

Very nicely done & a very clean basement!

[ShaneS]

This is a very nice image of a Japanese teapot Manfred and very unique in a great way! I have never see one shot in this dramatic fashion and it really works with the architectural lines of the pot. I imagine that the designer would love this image as it is really in line the Japanese aesthetic IMHO.

I lived in Japan for a while and love these teapots and the variety of shapes and sizes in which they are made. I only wish that they weren't so heavy as I would have shipped a ton home with me

[Manfred M]

a very clean basement!

Amazing what one can do with camera angles and Photoshop....

[Mark von Kanel]

Love the carpet...

[Manfred M]

This is a very nice image of a Japanese teapot Manfred and very unique in a great way! I have never see one shot in this dramatic fashion and it really works with the architectural lines of the pot. I imagine that the designer would love this image as it is really in line the Japanese aesthetic IMHO.

I lived in Japan for a while and love these teapots and the variety of shapes and sizes in which they are made. I only wish that they weren't so heavy as I would have shipped a ton home with me

Agreed Shane. We picked this one up when my daughter was attending high school in Japan and we were over for an end of term visit. My wife picked up a very small one, essentially because of the weight, and she had it at work ever since. Now that she retired (last week), it made its way back home and I have been staring it for a few days.

Somehow dark on dark seemed to be an appropriate way to go and I wanted to accentuate the shadpw form, but the unfiltered light from the strobe just did not seem to look the way I wanted it to.

[Mike Buckley]

I agree, Manfred. Everything about the second one is boring compared to the first one.