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July 31, 2005
The Red Violin
Canon 24-70mm, f/2.8, 1/13 sec, natural light. After a long break from photography, I've decided to work on still lifes again with the goal of building my stock portfolio. Today I gave myself the assignment of photographing my violin.
I don't know how other people feel, but for me studio work is the most challenging type of photography. I get frustrated when I can't produce a photo that matches the image I have in mind. I often can't produce what I visualize when photographing scenes out in the world either, but for some reason I don't find this quite as troubling. When I'm photographing something in my own home, I feel as though I should have complete control over the results, and yet there are so many times when I can't get what I want because I don't have the know-how. There's still so much to learn about lighting. I hope studio work will become more easy and fun when I have more experience.
One valuable lesson gained from today's assignment: pay careful attention to the reflections on shiny objects. For my first (botched) set of photos, I put the violin by a window to catch some soft natural light. But because the violin is shiny, the window created some big, ugly looking highlights on the violin's surface. It's amazing how easy it is to miss these details because the mind tends to ignore reflections.
All images copyrighted, and unauthorized use prohibited. Please contact me for permission. Posted by claire-obscure at 10:38 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
July 19, 2005
Union Station
Last week, I went to D.C. to meet up with a friend from high school who was visiting the area. Even though I was a little late getting to our meeting, I couldn't help but to stop and fire off a few shots at Union Station as I was passing through. As I was taking this photo, I heard some guy passing me exclaim, "What the $#% are you taking a picture of?" A year ago, such a comment would've really embarassed me, but at this point I've gotten so used to taking photos in odd places that I no longer mind. I have the feeling that many better compositions can be made of the pretty, patterned ceiling than my centered approach. Maybe next time.
All images copyrighted, and unauthorized use prohibited. Please contact me for permission. Posted by claire-obscure at 10:04 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
July 02, 2005
Architecture
The Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. What I like best about Frank Gehry's creations is how they reflect the color of their surroundings.
All images copyrighted, and unauthorized use prohibited. Please contact me for permission. Posted by claire-obscure at 01:23 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack