Strings of Pearls

[Mike Buckley]

Probably not the concept you were expecting, huh.

Please click the image to display it at its largest size for best presentation of the details.

Setup
The tabletop is opaque black acrylic and the background is translucent white acrylic. A small continuous-light lamp is behind the background shining toward the subjects and the camera. That lights the background, which is reflected in the tabletop. It also creates a bright rim of light on the top of the pearls. A medium continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock on the right side above of the scene lights the oyster and the right side of the pearls. A white reflector on the left side of the scene brightens that side of the pearls.

[Wavelength]

Very fine!!!

[JohnRostron]

Probably not the concept you were expecting, huh.

I have to say that, until I saw this comment, I was actually expecting something like this!

Your concept here is imaginative as usual, but I find that this realisation does not come off for me this time.

John

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to John and Nandakumar.

I find that this realisation does not come off for me this time.

It might be helpful to know why not.

[Rainforest]

The line goes on to infinity at the middle for me if that makes sense - very cool. It took me a minute to realize that was a raw oyster.

[Jim A]

Great idea and concept, Mike. Not quite there, somehow? Shell seems a bit dark, which affects the reflection particularly. You do push the boundaries, we need more of you !!

[FootLoose]

Nice idea that seems to need a bit more thought. The background looks too bright to me. It seems to be the brightest part of the image. And the way the pearls are laid out, they form a leading line to the oyster shell - which isn't the subject. But the line of pearls bifurcates - like a T intersection, one side leads up to the shell and the other leads down to the reflection of the shell.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[JohnRostron]

It might be helpful to know why not.

I was afraid that you would ask me that. The short answer is that I do not know!

John

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

Jim: You mentioned that the shell is a little dark. My first inclination was to brighten it in the lighting setup, but I was disappointed. The scene became satisfying for me with the shell at this lower level of brightness.

Greg: You mentioned that the bright background is a negative for you. It's a pleasing characteristic for me, which was devised from the outset in the lighting setup. The details that you don't like about the pearls are also appealing to me. However, whereas you see the pearls as providing leading lines to the oyster shell, I see them as coming from it rather than going toward it. Maybe the image in that regard is like a Rorschach test.

I was afraid that you would ask me that. The short answer is that I do not know!

I know that feeling all too well.

[KimC]

I like this Mike. I particularly like the texture of the pearls with the Oyster shell. I also like how the pearls are an identical color to portions of the shell. I also enjoy the tones/lighting (sexy). My only question is, since the reflection is a killer, why did you decide not to include all of the reflection?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Kim!

I didn't ever consider including the entire reflection of the oyster shell, so it's not as if I tried out that possibility and then rejected it. Instead, I decided from the outset to use only part of its reflection to ensure a less static composition, to leave a little bit of the content of the reflection up to the imagination of the viewer, and because doing so in my mind helped render the oyster shell a little less important than the strings of pearls (the pearls are important enough that their entire reflection is indeed included).

[Mike Buckley]

By the way, as I finished making this image, my wife and I were about to go out for an evening of a restaurant dinner and a chamber music concert. She wasn't yet completely put together, so to speak, so I asked if she was planning to wear pearls. That's because this set of pearls was still dangling off the end of the oyster shell and she had no idea they had been removed from her jewelry box. Of course!

[mugge]

Mike I love it. The oyster to my mind is central to this image not the pearls. Maybe emphasize the oyster by making it larger, darker, more texture? Pearls do come from oysters after all. Just a thought.
Cheers Ole

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Ole! If I wanted to tell a story of the oyster playing the obviously dominant role, I would probably make it so the pearls trail off in the distance behind the oyster. I might even get around to trying that out.

[KimC]

Thanks for the explanation Mike.

Thanks, Kim!

I didn't ever consider including the entire reflection of the oyster shell, so it's not as if I tried out that possibility and then rejected it. Instead, I decided from the outset to use only part of its reflection to ensure a less static composition, to leave a little bit of the content of the reflection up to the imagination of the viewer, and because doing so in my mind helped render the oyster shell a little less important than the strings of pearls (the pearls are important enough that their entire reflection is indeed included).

[ccphoto]

Well, I would be reticent if I just gave it a big thumb's up without stating some concerns..It is a fine image and I like the concept and even the dark/light doesn't concern me as much as the abruptness of the light to the dark. For me it's too sharp and too quick. I'm really thinking this would have been better suited to a seamless BG. The only other concern is cutting off all of the reflection. It' stoo much like cutting off a ballerina's feet...but I do like everything else very much.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Chris! Like so much in life, people react to the same details differently. The details you don't like were intentionally created by me because I like them.

Even so, though I'm a fan of a seamless transition between tabletop and background, I can't think of a material that can be used to make the tabletop and background out of a single piece that would also create the precise reflections as opposed to soft, imprecise reflections. Perhaps some kind of vellum I'm unaware of would make that happen.

The only other way to make the image as you describe using the materials I used would be to change the lighting to eliminate the horizon. If I did that, other aspects of the lighting would also have to change and that would be a compromise I would be unwilling to make because of how I envisioned the image. All of that is actually a moot point, as I intentionally wanted the horizon as displayed in the image: almost non-existent in the center and becoming gradually stronger and stronger in the areas closer to the left and right sides of the frame.

[bnnrcn]

I love the image Mike The reflection of the oyster shell seems a bit dark to me but I really can't say if a brightened version would look better without seeing