Oh No - not yet another Still Life...

TheBigYin

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Yep - sorry and all that. Now the pollings over for December 2011's POTY, I can finally post my latest "Old Master Style" Still Life.

Still Life with Wine and Walnuts by The Big Yin, on Flickr

Still Life With Port and Walnuts.


With a slight nod to the season, this time we've a glass of Port, a handful of Walnuts and a few Chestnuts to fortify us through the long nights.

Even managed to get Bert back from his summer tour of wherever bluebottles spend their vacation for a guest appearance.

All the usual symbolism applies
  • The skull, a reminder of the certainty of death;
  • Over Ripe Fruit, which symbolizes the decay of ageing, and the ephemeral nature of life...
  • Smoke, and the almost burned out Candle which symbolize the brevity of life;
  • The Almost completed hourglass again symbolises the shortness of time;
  • The Dice are an obvious reference to gambling - a form of excess;
  • The pipe is a symbol of vanity and excess, as is the ornate Rummer, decorative Port Jug, and indeed the Drink itself;
  • The Bible rests on the book of Job: 14.1 - "Man that is born of Woman is of few days, and is full of trouble";
  • The Eyeglasses are an indication of ageing and decline;
  • The Walnuts - St Augustine saw the walnut as a symbol of Christ, with the shell as the wood of the cross and the kernel as the life-giving nature of Christ.
  • Once Again, the Dice have also been used to give a personal note to the picture - the 14th being my birthday... as to the significance of the upward facing numbers, you'll have to work that one out yourselves ;-)

I'm actually quite pleased with this one, finally, I managed to get the window-lights showing correctly in reflections.
 
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It's a great image Mark and clearly a lot of thought has gone into it. The extinguished candle eclipses for me, well done ! (y)
 
Stunning as always Mark (y) I love it and you've put so much work into them all this year and should be rightfully proud of them :clap: I'm sorting out my idea for this months POTY I have an idea hopefully it will work :D

Matt
 
Stunning as always Mark (y) I love it and you've put so much work into them all this year and should be rightfully proud of them :clap: I'm sorting out my idea for this months POTY I have an idea hopefully it will work :D

Matt

Cheers Matt - glad you liked it.

Oh - just an aside - if you're shooting something for the POTY, just remember, it can't be shown anywhere on the rest of the forum until after the month it's entered for is complete - i.e. after the voting's over and the result for that month is declared. So - should you have come up with something for Nov 2012 - you'll have to sit on it for the best part of a year :(
 
It's a great image Mark and clearly a lot of thought has gone into it. The extinguished candle eclipses for me, well done ! (y)

Cheers Nick - though I'll have to admit here, that the candle / smoke didn't actually belong to the rest of the photo with the almost expired hourglass...:naughty:
 
Cheers Matt - glad you liked it.

Oh - just an aside - if you're shooting something for the POTY, just remember, it can't be shown anywhere on the rest of the forum until after the month it's entered for is complete - i.e. after the voting's over and the result for that month is declared. So - should you have come up with something for Nov 2012 - you'll have to sit on it for the best part of a year :(

Thanks Mate, I have read the :rules: (y) so I was aware of that (y) a quick question do you only email on the month that it's been taken for i.e. I take one for September, in May do I have to wait till Sept to email it off :thinking:

Matt
 
Very northern european reformation which I guess is exactly what you were aiming for, bravo.
 
I love the thought and detail you put into these Mark, and then the perfect execution just tops it all off.

I need to ask a cheeky question though, are the "window lights" genuine or a carefully masked softbox? I'm almost hoping it's the latter as I have something in mind where this would be the perfect finishing detail, but I don't have the right type of windows..
 
All I can say is wow, this series is just stunnng, they should be in an art gallery on canvas. The thought, planning and execution is out of this world. Wow.(y) Actually, thinking about it, you have influenced me to give this kind of Art a go when I get time. There's not many photos I have seen and thought "I want to have a go at that". Thank you for sharing these.
 
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Thanks Mate, I have read the :rules: (y) so I was aware of that (y) a quick question do you only email on the month that it's been taken for i.e. I take one for September, in May do I have to wait till Sept to email it off :thinking:

Matt

You email (say) the February entry in after Marc (fabs) issues the "we're open for February" in the discussion thread - and keep hold of March, April, etc. until you get the nod from the mod....:LOL:

Very northern european reformation which I guess is exactly what you were aiming for, bravo.

Pretty much the idea, yep and thanks for your comment (y)

I love the thought and detail you put into these Mark, and then the perfect execution just tops it all off.

I need to ask a cheeky question though, are the "window lights" genuine or a carefully masked softbox? I'm almost hoping it's the latter as I have something in mind where this would be the perfect finishing detail, but I don't have the right type of windows..

It's a square softbox, with a cardboard "gobo" I think my mate used to call 'em... Anyway, it's a dirty great cross shaped piece of cardboard, matt black emulsioned, and attached to the front of the softbox with Industrial sized clothes-pegs... Hardest bit was controlling the reflections in the glass and the hourglass... ended up with the entire build boxed in top and sides by "black flats" - big chunk of matt-black polystyrene insulation sheets, and some dark brown velvet curtains spread in front of the rig... Otherwise the reflections of a modern (well - certainly not c16/17) spare bedroom ruined things :LOL:

If I builld up another set like this, I might just take a couple of behind the scenes images, just to hopefully show why it takes me weeks at a time to get these things right :LOL:
 
All I can say is wow, this series is just stunnng, they should be in an art gallery on canvas. The thought, planning and execution is out of this world. Wow.(y) Actually, thinking about it, you have influenced me to give this kind of Art a go when I get time. There's not many photos I have seen and thought "I want to have a go at that". Thank you for sharing these.

Rob - thank you for your kind words - I have to admit, my original love when it comes to photography is landscapes, particularly hills and mountains, but the more I get into these type of shots, the more I'm enjoying them. Now I've a bit better idea of how to do the lighting effects how I want them, I've a few more ideas still in the pipeline, and half a box of props that are as yet unused, so - I guess it's a case of "watch this space" :LOL:
 
If I builld up another set like this, I might just take a couple of behind the scenes images, just to hopefully show why it takes me weeks at a time to get these things right :LOL:

That would be appreciated Mark. I've something in mind on a slightly smaller scale.
 
I've a few more ideas still in the pipeline, and half a box of props that are as yet unused, so - I guess it's a case of "watch this space" :LOL:

I, for one, will be closely watching this space(y)
 
That would be appreciated Mark. I've something in mind on a slightly smaller scale.

Look forward to seeing it, Alastair (y)

To be honest, I went for flash on this shot, and tried my best to get it all "right in camera" - which I managed apart from getting the smoke and the sand running out in the same shot - primarily because I was going to try shooting it on the Bronica. Unfortunately, it took so long to get the digital version right that I had to tear down the set as someone was waiting to go to bed :LOL: And with the constraints of the holiday season, the grapes and nuts had been eaten before I got another chance of shooting :LOL:

I, for one, will be closely watching this space(y)

It might not be for a while, I need to work on a couple of ideas i've got ticking over in my head - and as one of them involves trying to light a shiny silver globe, that might take a while...

Well planned out and well executed the lighting is perfect

Thanks - there was certainly an awful lot of planning in there - not to mention the best part of 5 hours of moving items on the table 1mm at a time, and re-shooting over and over again... I'm half tempted to make a stop-motion movie of it, with the candlestick glasses and all the other bits roaming around the desktop :LOL:

I actually had the camera rigged to shoot tethered to the laptop, straight into lightroom, and with live-view on the camera and echoed to a monitor so i could see the positioning of the component parts on the monitor, then see the end result on the laptop including the lighting from the flash rig... came in particularly useful when trying to lose the reflections of the furnishings in the bedroom :LOL: I'm sure it's not the most elegant way of working, and I'm very sure that someone more well versed with studio flash rigs would have come up with a solution much more simply and quickly, but hey - it was a learning exercise I guess :)
 
First, it's a refreshing change to have an image that I know has been carefully thought out beforehand. The explanation of the symbolism does prompt a reflection on the paintings of the medieval period (and later) where the painters could assume that their viewers would understand the symbolism, and it makes me wonder if a full explanation is a good thing. It's been said that people like the paintings of the Impressionists because they leave so much to the imagination; and similarly I think that a book (for example) loses more than it gains by being turned into a film because things are made explicit in a film that can otherwise be left to the imagination.

In this particular image, I wouldn't like to identify the part of the Old Testament that the Bible was open at. I could (without your explanation) have interpreted things differently. For reasons I'll give in a moment, the most likely verse to spring into my mind would have been Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench" (Authorised Version) which becomes possibly doubled in intensity in the NIV rendering "a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out". On this basis, as the verse refers to Christ, I could have taken the skull as referencing Golgotha, the place of the skull; and then gone down this route with the other details.

So, is it better or worse to leave the interpretation more open - so long as people are aware that the details are there for a reason? Is there a case for suggesting that some people could view the image as a pretty picture, and gain satisfaction from that, whilst others could look beyond the obvious and see a deeper meaning?

Overall, I like the arrangement of items and the lighting. There are a few small details that niggle me, although others may not be bothered. I'm a black and white photographer, and that means that I have developed the habit over the years of always carefully checking object outlines for unfortunate juxtapositions. From that perspective, I'm not entirely happy with the following points:

1. The skull rests on a book, and that book in turn is placed on another book or box. The far edge of this box is just visible above the globe, and I would prefer the simplification that results from losing it.

2. The book under the skull has clearly lost part of the spine; but the white part is only visible on the right of the hour glass, which makes it less clear that it is the same item.

3. I wonder if the hour glass itself would be better positioned so that the three vertical supports did not line up as they do with the details in the skull.

4. Also on the skull, the top of the spine of the book on which it rests and the top edge of the book are clearly seen as being lighter in colour; but without being able to see the pages they look disconcertingly like something suspended in space. That can be argued either way, of course. As a flaw, or as an extra item to ponder in reading the narrative. It certainly opens up another train of thought.

One item that puzzled me considerably is the long white object that lies between the spectacles and the candlestick. My first impression (quickly corrected, but still my first impression) was that it was a smoking taper, the marks on the wall mimicking the smoke from the candle. My immediate thought was "smoking flax" and Isaiah 42:3 instantly popped into my mind. I'd prefer to not have it in, as it makes the Bible/spectacles/candlestick area crowded; and the continuation along the plate adds some unnecessary detail there.

I particularly like the way the bowl of the churchwarden pipe echoes the curve of the Bible just above it.

The hour glass appears to be slightly tilted - an attempt to interfere with the normal passage of time perhaps. Some areas for reflection in that.

I find myself wondering about a candle that would appear to have been burning for some time - it's right down - and yet which has left no wax on the candlestick.

Back on the wall smoke, I do find that distracting on the left hand side.

I wonder if the spectacles would look better if moved lower down the page, giving a little more breathing room.

The overall progression of light to darkness from left to right is obviously correct, but I would have possibly preferred to have less vignetting top left, and perhaps overall slightly darker on the left.

The Bible is positioned off the main lines - interesting thoughts from that.

I should have started by saying "thanks for the invite to comment on this one". Better late than never :)
 
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First, it's a refreshing change to have an image that I know has been carefully thought out beforehand. The explanation of the symbolism does prompt a reflection on the paintings of the medieval period (and later) where the painters could assume that their viewers would understand the symbolism, and it makes me wonder if a full explanation is a good thing. It's been said that people like the paintings of the Impressionists because they leave so much to the imagination; and similarly I think that a book (for example) loses more than it gains by being turned into a film because things are made explicit in a film that can otherwise be left to the imagination.

Thanks Stephen - I'll admit that the whole series of these shots have been fascinating for me, as they've required me to really dig into not only the art history side of things but into the whole symbolism area - by education and incination i'm more of an enrineer than artist, so it's been refreshing opening up almost a new side of my nature with these pictures. I included the references to the "symbology" purely because I found it so fascinating myself, the way that the old master painters could weave these hidden meanings into a work an wished to share this "hidden knowledge" with the people viewing the shot - hoping that they would get the same kind of "buzz" I did from learning something new.

In this particular image, I wouldn't like to identify the part of the Old Testament that the Bible was open at. I could (without your explanation) have interpreted things differently. For reasons I'll give in a moment, the most likely verse to spring into my mind would have been Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench" (Authorised Version) which becomes possibly doubled in intensity in the NIV rendering "a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out". On this basis, as the verse refers to Christ, I could have taken the skull as referencing Golgotha, the place of the skull; and then gone down this route with the other details.

So, is it better or worse to leave the interpretation more open - so long as people are aware that the details are there for a reason? Is there a case for suggesting that some people could view the image as a pretty picture, and gain satisfaction from that, whilst others could look beyond the obvious and see a deeper meaning?

Well - to be honest, In the full sized image, it's clear that the Bible is open on the stated page - it's more the restrictons of web-compatible images that leave the page open to interpretation - I will admit, I'm very happy for people to look at the picture and see something pretty - I'm equally happy that people put their own spin on things and take what they will from the image - if my shot has been enjoyed in any way, then in a small way it's made the world better for a couple of seconds - i'll take that.

Overall, I like the arrangement of items and the lighting. There are a few small details that niggle me, although others may not be bothered. I'm a black and white photographer, and that means that I have developed the habit over the years of always carefully checking object outlines for unfortunate juxtapositions. From that perspective, I'm not entirely happy with the following points:

1. The skull rests on a book, and that book in turn is placed on another book or box. The far edge of this box is just visible above the globe, and I would prefer the simplification that results from losing it.

2. The book under the skull has clearly lost part of the spine; but the white part is only visible on the right of the hour glass, which makes it less clear that it is the same item.

3. I wonder if the hour glass itself would be better positioned so that the three vertical supports did not line up as they do with the details in the skull.

4. Also on the skull, the top of the spine of the book on which it rests and the top edge of the book are clearly seen as being lighter in colour; but without being able to see the pages they look disconcertingly like something suspended in space. That can be argued either way, of course. As a flaw, or as an extra item to ponder in reading the narrative. It certainly opens up another train of thought.

All valid points, and all things that annoyed me during my PP session. At the time of shooting, I liked the regularity of the 3 "balls" on the hourglass, forming a nice regular triangle, but afterwards, and after i'd broken the set down, I realised that a small rotation of the glass would have solved the peeling spine problem, and would haave "echoed" the eye-socket and nose positions... this would have been IMO a highly acceptable trade off.

One item that puzzled me considerably is the long white object that lies between the spectacles and the candlestick. My first impression (quickly corrected, but still my first impression) was that it was a smoking taper, the marks on the wall mimicking the smoke from the candle. My immediate thought was "smoking flax" and Isaiah 42:3 instantly popped into my mind. I'd prefer to not have it in, as it makes the Bible/spectacles/candlestick area crowded; and the continuation along the plate adds some unnecessary detail there.

That's my main "issue" with the picture frankly - having lived with the shot for over a year now - as a rather large framed print in my office - every time I look at it I think "why the hell did I leave a Quill Pen on the bible, when there's no paper to write on, and no inkwell to dip!" Sadly, it's a simple case of my over-egging the pudding - no hidden meanings, no nothing, just a plain and simple head-slapping moment from me...

I particularly like the way the bowl of the churchwarden pipe echoes the curve of the Bible just above it.

The hour glass appears to be slightly tilted - an attempt to interfere with the normal passage of time perhaps. Some areas for reflection in that.

I find myself wondering about a candle that would appear to have been burning for some time - it's right down - and yet which has left no wax on the candlestick.

Back on the wall smoke, I do find that distracting on the left hand side.

I wonder if the spectacles would look better if moved lower down the page, giving a little more breathing room.

The overall progression of light to darkness from left to right is obviously correct, but I would have possibly preferred to have less vignetting top left, and perhaps overall slightly darker on the left.

I was very happy with the positioning of the bowl and bible myself - it was just one of those moments where I moved something 2mm and it all "just worked". I was slightly less happy with the lean of the hourglass - for the simple reason that it was a £2 fleabay purchase, and the lean is due to a bent frame - try as I may I can't make the darned thing stand up straight :LOL: Again, with the candlestick, it's another head-banging moment and something I really wish I'd addressed.

The smoke, well - it's a bit marmite - personally, I like it, and ultimately I made this image for my own pleasure - however, I do understand why some people have mentioned it to be distracting. For me, I like the fact that the candle has burned out at exactly the same time as the final grains of sand are dropping out of the hourglass - again something only completely viewable at the full resolution I guess...

The pince-nez would definitely be better further down the page from a composition point of view, HOWEVER, they are actually positioned with the Right-Eye lens magnifying the first words of Job 14:1 - again something better appreciated on a 48" wide canvas than a 1024px image on screen I guess :)


BookOfJob100pc_Crop by The Big Yin, on Flickr

The Bible is positioned off the main lines - interesting thoughts from that.

Or it could simply have been that the "old chap" who'd been settled down for the evening with his jug of claret and his pipe simply didn't have enough room on the table for his bible... I guess that's something that only the artist will ever know :)


I should have started by saying "thanks for the invite to comment on this one". Better late than never

And I'd like to thank you for your full and thorough Critique - and frankly, I wish you'd been a member 18 months ago, and given me this critique before I'd spent a fortune on the large canvas print of this one... as I'd definitely have rebuilt and re-shot things with a couple of these observations in mind. It's taken living with the image for 18 months to completely come to terms with the fact that, even though I'm still proud of the image - as a novice in terms of lighting and still-life work - it has certain undeniable flaws. This is actually why I asked you to critique this image in the other thread - I wanted to know if you would pick up on the same things that jump out at me on a daily basis...
 
And I'd like to thank you for your full and thorough Critique

This is actually why I asked you to critique this image in the other thread - I wanted to know if you would pick up on the same things that jump out at me on a daily basis...

My pleasure - I learned a lot from it. I think that this type of "exercise" is the best way of learning photography.

Ah - I didn't realise it was an exam question :)
 
not an exam question at all, just helping me realise that I'm not being hyper-critical and over picky about faults that nobody else even sees... the fact is, you picked up on pretty much every one that I had - which means that sometime, someday, i'm gonna have to sell that framed picture on, and re-shoot the damned thing properly :LOL:
 
Really lovely image there. It's clear that you know what you are doing with this sort of thing. Looks very rich and 'old'. Deep and meaingful.

Well done sir!
 
It's beautiful. Takes me straight into the image, away from reality. Awesome photo!

Thanks, much appreciated (y)

Really lovely image there. It's clear that you know what you are doing with this sort of thing. Looks very rich and 'old'. Deep and meaingful.

Well done sir!

I try, though as I've said, I can certainly see faults in the shot - still, every fault's an excuse for a re-shoot, isn't it :LOL:

lovely picture and i agree with the above that the smoking candle was a very nice touchto the image....

Cheers - again, as said above, it's a bit marmite - some like it, some don't - but all I can say is... if I re-shoot, it's going to be there ;)

Nice shot, I thought you were doing Hamlet. :)

No Yoricks were harmed in the course of this photographic session :LOL:
 
I adore this shot and could quite easily see it hanging in a drawing room or some such, it's impressive.. I'm certainly not technical enough to elaborate, i just like what i see:D(y)

What has impressed me even more was stephen's Critique style, i think that has to be the most indepth thought provoking, but genuinely nicely written critique i've ever read(y)
 
I adore this shot and could quite easily see it hanging in a drawing room or some such, it's impressive.. I'm certainly not technical enough to elaborate, i just like what i see:D(y)

Thanks - it was sort of the end of a whole series of shots, each building on the prior, so I'd "got my ducks in a row" on it to a certain extent - I still like it, but I'll admit there's likely to be a re-shoot of something similar (but corrected in the ways discussed above) over the winter when I'm bored or unable to get out on the bike...

What has impressed me even more was stephen's Critique style, i think that has to be the most indepth thought provoking, but genuinely nicely written critique i've ever read(y)

It's certainly an excellent piece of work, and I'd be delighted to see more of his insights across the forum - though I do appreciate that this standard of in-depth analysis isn't something that you can just tear-off-the-wrist in a couple of minutes - it took me the best part of 30 minutes to reply to it, so who knows how long it took to write!
 
Yes I would too! But I agree time would play a huge part on this type of critique!
I'm curious about the rest of your series now, once I'm at the laptop I shall go be nosy.. Are they on both FB and Flickr?
 
More importantly. How much do you want for that big canvas; now we know about all it's little faults and all? :)
 
More importantly. How much do you want for that big canvas; now we know about all it's little faults and all? :)

It's going nowhere until i've re-shot and got the result I want - though I'll admit that I've been offered £500 for it and turned it down fairly recently
 
It's certainly an excellent piece of work, and I'd be delighted to see more of his insights across the forum - though I do appreciate that this standard of in-depth analysis isn't something that you can just tear-off-the-wrist in a couple of minutes - it took me the best part of 30 minutes to reply to it, so who knows how long it took to write!

I can answer that one at least :LOL:.

I spent about 15-20 minutes looking at the image and jotting down notes. I then just fleshed them out into "proper" English. You can still detect the notes; and the last part (after the paragraph on the quill pen) went through almost unchanged.

To be honest, if there's any merit in it, it comes from practice. It's said that you should be able to use your camera blindfold because it's all instinctive. In the same way, I have a mental checklist of points to look out for and it's second nature to use them without thinking. If anyone's interested, I could flesh that out and post it :)

It's exactly the same checklist I use when setting up my camera.

And thank you both very much for the kind comments. They really did make my day.
 
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Well deserved, Stephen, well deserved...

Though it's partly what I'd expect from a LF Film shooter ;)
 
I can answer that one at least :LOL:.

I spent about 15-20 minutes looking at the image and jotting down notes. I then just fleshed them out into "proper" English. You can still detect the notes; and the last part (after the paragraph on the quill pen) went through almost unchanged.

To be honest, if there's any merit in it, it comes from practice. It's said that you should be able to use your camera blindfold because it's all instinctive. In the same way, I have a mental checklist of points to look out for and it's second nature to use them without thinking. If anyone's interested, I could flesh that out and post it :)

It's exactly the same checklist I use when setting up my camera.

And thank you both very much for the kind comments. They really did make my day.


Posting the checklist in a new thread personally i think would be ace, i know obviously lots of people may know these things already but i for one am pretty clueless on a lot and i think it could help a lot of people (y)
 
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