People say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I’d say it’s more than that. It’s the ‘relativity’ that makes people beautiful in some other people’s eyes. There’s no rule of thumb that’s definite in determining beauty. Sure a supermodel is beautiful in most people’s eyes. But that’s because we’ve been brainwashed by all sorts of media (TV, magazines, internet) that tells us what beauty is according to them.
We take that same supermodel (let’s say a tall-blonde-slim caucasian) to other part of the world that hasn’t been affected by the ‘media’, I wouldn’t guarantee she’ll be a hit over there. Who knows that maybe in that other part of the world, fair skinned, slim and blonde hair is associated with being not healthy and has no appeal whatsoever. Thus, one’s definition of beauty is relative to one’s area. And that’s just one example of one ‘relativity’.
Beauty can also be relative to time. One evident example from the Reinassance; ample women were the subjects of many art forms from that era. A person can be considered beautiful because of the hair, or the way that person dresses, or even because how that person carries his/herself. You see, it’s relative to many aspects.
Same goes for photographing an object. In order capture a beautiful shots of the object, one would have to take some consideration in how the object relates to many aspects. These pictures below are my efforts to make them appear interesting, and maybe beautiful in some people’s eyes. Slight touch up in term of adding a bit of contrast and vibrancy, but no shifting white balance, nor other heavy photoshop manipulation.
This picture above could be a standard product shots. But the backlit matte acrylic surface eliminates shadows and reflection, making the objects appear floating. Something interesting that we rarely see in real life, floating shot glasses.
To make it more interesting I put a frilly peach hat between the flash below, and the acrylic surface. I hope the ‘relativity’ of the objects, light, and background creates beauty.
How about rearranging the objects to create compelling repetitive lines, then putting the lights with blue gel filter at the end of those repetitive lines. Dramatic, don’t you think?
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A simple isolation of the objects in the corner, makes the picture tells a different story. The vast empty space or the isolated objects leave you some imagination.
Tilt the angle a bit for more dynamic composition, while the darkness, the shallow depth of field (hence, the blur), and the contrast of cool blue and hot red invoke different responses from different individuals.
Infinite, infinite ways to make a beautiful photographs. Most of the time after a trip, or a shooting session, I found myself thinking, “why didn’t I try that angle, or that composition”, because there are just,-as I said- infinite ways to approach beauty. Just dare yourself to take different composition instead of the same old ‘me-small-in-front-of-the-site-in-the-center-of-the-photograph’. Take a closer intimate shots of an architectural structures instead of wide angle shots that you can find in hundreds of souvenir postcards. Or simply, just take more shots. Cheers.
Comprehensive approach toward photography indeed. Same thing with me. I always asked myself after every photoshoot ” What if I tried these angle and settings, etc” Simply never enough
Your photos are awesome and creative. Your tips, techniques, and ideas are very useful, thanks a lot, ingimg.
I would love to see your camera & lighting setup for this great shot.
Care to share?
The last picture is for me the best from all…
Servus and have a nice day
Kvelli
Thanks Vs, Jouir. Violet: Thank you, It’d be nice if i could travel all the time like you do. =D
Fadzil: Thank you. It’s pretty simple actually. At that time I used my already long gone Nikon D200, with 35mm f2.0 lens. I used large aperture, and put the object on top of a matte acrylic, lighted with a studio light from below. The light is covered with some paper to diffuse the light, and also a colored gel filter.
Those are simple and ordinary things, but you have turned them into angles in the eyes.
Before I started my own business, I used to be a shooter in a large studio that specialized in doing catalog photography. We had excellent clients, like Neiman Marcus and other well know retailers, but nevertheless, we did nothing but shoot pictures of sweaters, silverware and shoes all day.
You’d think this would get boring, but it didn’t. We quickly discovered that every object has it’s own type of beauty. Our job was to discover that hidden beauty and make it accessible to others. I think you’ve discovered this too. You’ve done a good job at explaining why photography is so much more than just snapping a picture. The world is a symphony of light, shadow and color. Our job as photographers is to be the conductor of this symphony.
That’s very kind of you rainfield. thanks.
To John: I would shoot a trash bin if Neimann Marcus wants me to. =D At least I’ll have some big client on my portfolio. LOL. And about photographer as conductor of symphony of light, shadow, and color, I couldn’t be more agree. Although, some people take it lightly and think it’s easy being a conductor. That he just have to wave the wand and the orchestra will do the rest. While actually it’s more than just waving the wand erratically.
I love the 4th picture! I don’t know why but I felt so lonely looking at it. The others are great too, I wish I had more time to experimenting like this.