Leather & Feather

[Manfred M]

I've tried to photograph this small leather and feather statue that we own a number of times in the past. I've never been happy with the results and I'm still not 100% where I want to be, but this is the best I've managed to date.

Again a studio shot using a sweep of black seamless paper... I wanted to get just enough of a shadow on the paper so that it looks like the statue is anchored to the ground, rather than floating in the air.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, have you tried a reflective surface yet?

[Manfred M]

have you tried a reflective surface yet?

Yes, but it wouldn't work well for this subject. It is far too complex.

I use a large sheet of black, transparent plexiglas in some of my still-life work but restrict its use to subjects that will benefit from using that technique.

[Shadowman]

Yes, but it wouldn't work well for this subject. It is far too complex.

I use a large sheet of black, transparent plexiglas in some of my still-life work but restrict its use to subjects that will benefit from using that technique.

I know what you mean, I recently used a piece of black reflective plastic to photograph a vintage camera, the reflection became an integral part of the composition.

[Manfred M]

I know what you mean, I recently used a piece of black reflective plastic to photograph a vintage camera, the reflection became an integral part of the composition.

In fact that is the whole idea of shooting this way.

If you have a relatively simple subject, the mirrored reflection is an integral part of the composition. Tale a more complex object and the image just becomes far too busy.

Here is an earlier work I did using the same piece of plexiglas.