Glass

 

I am very excited about shooting for this assignment.  I really want to be able to produce the kind of professional quality photographs we’ve been looking at in class.  My ideas for this shoot are not creative.  They are basic and possibly run-of-the-mill boring.  HOWEVER!  It is important to me to understand the very basic principles of shooting glass.  I feel more strongly about this than I have about monochrome and texture.  Maybe because there seem to be rather clear rules of how to shoot glass to achieve this amazing look:

Robert Tardio

Carl Zapp

These were both found on foundfolios.com and I want to imitate the first one especially.  Creativity in design and composition can come later right?

I want simplicity in line, in lighting, in composition.  I want to learn how to do this the way the professionals do.

With no further ado, my sketches:

1.  Two wine glasses and a carafe, lined up as shown so that lines are complimentary.  The big square in the sketch is the composition.  I would use the techniques for dark field lighting that we learned in class (sketches of lighting to follow).  My only question with this and with my other ideas is would the set up be the same since there is more than one object being lit, and therefore more than one light edge?  Does it matter?

2.  Same basic idea but slightly altered.  Still with dark edge lighting, still with complimentary line and shape being the focus.  This time two carafes, one upturned, one on its head.  They are both fully in the shot.

 

3.  Three wine glasses, lined up as shown, the middle one half full with wine, or what looks like wine.  This would be slightly more difficult to shoot, I think, because the wine would have to be lit separately.  This time I would shoot with the bright field lighting method (sketches at end).

4.  This is possibly my favorite.  A single carafe/vase holding the stem of a long sturdy flower, possibly a lilly.  The composition is what is in the box.  This would also be lit with the bright field method.

I wonder about the legitimacy of these ideas.  They are obviously not original nor creative but I’m also very excited to try them.  Is it wrong to try to re-do work that you admire, if for the purposes of education?

Lighting Diagrams:

These are the basic Dark and Light Field Lighting Methods.

the two checkered boxes are black boards held or clamped to the side of the scene.