# Hot Glass Sculpture



## Don Kondra (Nov 11, 2008)

Greetings,

This is a sculpture I made in an introduction to glass blowing workshop.

Shot in a 28" light tent with one 26w CF boom light and white foamcore clipped to both sides of the tent.....








Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 11, 2008)

Tough deal on the specular highlights. Glass is usually better when lit from the back. Give it a try if you have a moment.

Love & Bass


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## Don Kondra (Nov 11, 2008)

Excuse #6 

I wanted the internal fire.

Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 11, 2008)

Certainly up to you. I am just making suggestions. 

Love & Bass


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## Don Kondra (Nov 11, 2008)

And I thank you for that.

Tried your suggestion.  On the next two shots I didn't bother with much PPing :mrgreen:

This is with minimal back light...






And very little top front corner light...






Just for the heck of it this is a 15 second exposure with no lights except cloudy reflected daylight from the east side of the tent. The tent opening is facing north, the west side is blocked with foamcore and the south side is the backdrop..... little after 2 pm. 






Cheers, Don


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## Don Kondra (Nov 11, 2008)

craig said:


> Tough deal on the specular highlights. Glass is usually better when lit from the back. Give it a try if you have a moment.
> 
> Love & Bass


 
I'm curious about the shot you have on your web site of the three wine bottles?

Perhaps the client requested it be shot that way ?

Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 11, 2008)

Excellent attempts! Actually I think the top front corner light gives the glass the nicest shape.

The three wine bottles was a failed attempt for The Jackson Hole News & Guides FAF special section. The Art Director loved it and it was quite effective because the photo ran small.

Love & Bass


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## Don Kondra (Nov 12, 2008)

I just can't help myself Craig,

Why would you put that "failed attempt" on your web site?

Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 12, 2008)

Feel free to speak your mind with me Don! Although not the smartest move; that shot really means a lot to me. I can produce slick work, but I also like to have fun and stir emotion. 

Check out http://craigblankphotography.viewbook.com/ This is more recent work. As you can see I am not always a fan of details in the highlights and sharp focus.

Thanks!

CB


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## Don Kondra (Nov 13, 2008)

Okay Craig,

I guess we can agree to disagree...

The last shot I posted is my favorite and I am a fan of sharp focus  

Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 13, 2008)

Excellent!

)'(


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## Christie Photo (Nov 14, 2008)

Without seeing, holding the sculpture, my instinct/training is to light whatever I put behind it.  Of all the glass things I've photographed, I don't recall ever attempting to shoot something like this with such an irregular shape.

-Pete


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## Don Kondra (Nov 14, 2008)

I think that's why the "no lights" light was the most successful shot, with such an odd shape there is bound to be a highlight somewhere 

At some point when I have more time I would like to try the cut out in the bottom of the backdrop and light that.  Different colored narrow beam lights might be interesting too... 

Cheers, Don


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## Patm1313 (Nov 14, 2008)

You might be better off using a single light source. Using multiple light scources on glass with curves tends to deceive the eye about the shape of the curves.


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## Don Kondra (Nov 14, 2008)

Patm1313 said:


> You might be better off using a single light source. Using multiple light scources on glass with curves tends to deceive the eye about the shape of the curves.


 
Not quite sure how to respond to that 

The first picture is a single light source, a 26w CF bulb. 

The last picture is a single light source, the sun on a cloudy day with two sides of the tent blocked...

Cheers, Don


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## Patm1313 (Nov 14, 2008)

Don Kondra said:


> Not quite sure how to respond to that
> 
> The first picture is a single light source, a 26w CF bulb.
> 
> ...



Sorry, I misread the first post. It's just the complexity of the glass then, which isn;t really something you can help.


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## Don Kondra (Nov 14, 2008)

Ah, but the challenge 

I'm quite pleased with the daylight shot but this object opens up so many possibilities to get creative and should make shooting more regularly shaped glass objects easier in the future. 

Cheers, Don


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## Christie Photo (Nov 15, 2008)

Don Kondra said:


> I think that's why the "no lights" light was the most successful shot...



I'm thinking it's more "no tent" than "no lights."  A tent isn't the answer for all things.

I'd start by dropping the camera and hitting the paper/background directly behind with a single light.

-Pete


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## Don Kondra (Nov 15, 2008)

Greetings,

I don't think I mentioned this before, the object is 2 1/2" high, 2 1/2" wide and 1 1/4" deep.... 

In defense of the 28" light tent, there isn't room to get the back light far enough behind the object to eliminate highlights, perhaps the 4' tent would allow a better seperation from light/object/backdrop.... or a more focused light source than a 13" x 13" softbox, or a thicker diffuser material or raise the object higher off the bottom of the tent... 

By the time I started it was dark so I didn't get to reshoot with daylight/gray backdrop in the tent. So not really a fair comparison to the "no light" shot with black backdrop. 

Developed from raw, resized, some brightness, contrast and sharpened... no work on the back ground. 

This is shot on a light table with banner paper...







And the gray backdrop with back light. 

I will try this again with the object another three feet forward and play with the position of the light.... 






I'm not done playing with the light tent yet but thanks Craig and Pete, the back light is the direction to pursue.

The "shadows" is an issue I haven't quite come to terms with yet, I'll see what the addition of foamcore reflectors does to that and the effect it has on the "internal fire" of the glass. 

Cheers, Don


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## craig (Nov 15, 2008)

Now we are talking. I think these shots are much stronger. Detail in the highlights really brings life to the subject. Big up for keeping at it!

Love & Bass


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## Don Kondra (Nov 20, 2008)

I sent my last image to a friend (Grant Kernan of AK Photo's) and he took the liberty of some airbrushing 






At this point in time I'm leaning towards the stronger shadows of the previous image but this back ground is much better...

Cheers, Don


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