Tea, please

having fun with reflections. . .

Jerry, please don't visit my images, insult them with thoughtless comments, then delete the comment after you've been made to look foolish.

 

It's not an experiment. I know exactly what I'm doing.

 

I'll start with the fact that 'centered' is not always bad. You failed to notice that it is actually positioned to the left just a hair to draw attention to the spoon and its' reflection.

 

The red is due to the neon lights, of course. Mixed lighting is fun to work with. You should try it some time.

if you were to actually put the thirds grid thing over this shot one might notice that quite a few things meet at the crossroads which is what I think the whole thirds grid thing is about. excuse my lack of actual verbage on the grid thing.

 

all you need in this shot is a string.

 

Knicki

Hi Knicki. I hadn't really thought of the grid in connection with this image, but I guess if you can keep the visual weight of all the elements balanced, then your eye keeps moving around the picture space, intersecting the power points in the process.

Nice image, Carl. Looks like everything, table including, is submerged in tea. Tea inside, tea outside seems the main point to me. I cannot understand, however, why two bags of tea. If this is to balance the spoon, then isn't it better to use only one bag with an open cap and the thread with that small square label (from inside) stretching out. My idea is the only bag with its "tail" (the thread inside) to be arranged to look somewhat like a second (symmetrical) tea spoon. Then the real spoon and the arranged one could make something like the "V" letter with the pot in between. (I'm not sure my explanation is clear enough.)Just an idea. Regards. Blago

Stay calm... buddies... please. May be I know nothing... Anyway... I love this pic... and I'm asking you the permission to take it as model for painting (Expecting to make an acrylic... I do that sometimes)). Tks in advance!

With the shadow at frame edge the whole subject is lifted up and out of the picture space, and that gives it life, but it's the spoon that does it for me ... you been looking at 17th century Italian or Dutch still life paintings by any chance?

Well, after asserting that I knew exactly what I was doing, along come some folks who point out some additional things in the image I had missed.

 

Blagoy, I like the idea that the color cast could be related to the color of tea itself. Some people brew or drink tea in a clear glass container where the red/brown come through, compared to the much darker brown that I see in my opaque tea cup every morning. The two bags of tea were what was served, giving you the choice of strong or weak tea. The string connected to a hidden bag does provide some intrigue, I suppose.

 

Marcel, permission is hereby granted, with credit to the original, of course, when the image appears in some important venue. :-)

 

Sandeha, I hadn't fully grasped the importance of the shadow directly in front, but you're absolutely right. Without it, it sits in a dead field. Yes, the whole assemblage was rotated to give the spoon-on-spoon interplay the best possible viewing angle.

 

Wish I could say that I understand and apply all the lessons of the old masters. I'm sure there's a lot still to learn.

I love the softness of the silver's reflection, the combo of lighting, the textures, and the almost centered composition :-))

:-)

 

Thank you, Linda.

My initial reaction was a sort of 'yawn' - it's a tea pot in some kind of rather unpleasant neon light. But I'll admit that with study and consideration it has grown on me somewhat - there are indeed things to be discovered and contemplated here.

Eric, you know my work enough to know I would never use 'neon' and 'unpleasant' in the same sentence. :-)

I can say that it looks large far better than the preview thumbnail, revealing the table texture and making the reflection more noticeable.

 

The color is indeed interesting, esp. its effect on table (was it "marble" siding)? The "tea-toning" gives the scene an unusual look.

The 'tea-toning' is the natural result of mixed light (with a heavy dose of red neon) on a standard formica diner table top. I liked the reflections of reflections, but the overall color was the clincher.

At first, the only thing that bothered me about this exceptional image was the reddish "half moon" atop the front of the lid. But then I did a quickie clone-out of it and the blander lid top bothered me much more. Then I quickly realized how that segment of reflected light ties the image together both tonally and shapewise (it finishes the saucer's inner circularity). Tip 'o the cap!

Shadows, reflections, hot spots, curvature. I like the 3D effect and variety of colors in the hotspots. Regards,

Thank you both.

 

I had another version of this that was very similar, except the hot spots were larger, especially in the spoon. Quite distracting.

I thought I was crazy with colors but my friend, you are WAY ahead of me!Many would think that to get colors like this, all you have to do is pull the saturation slider to the right!
Yes, mix lighting is fun but it could also present a big challenge and it's not for everyone. :)
Also, some folks here, specially the new comers to the field, think that the subject is well photographed if it's places in some remote corner of the frame not realizing that the actual drive should be to have " visual balance".
I commend your ability to produce the colors you have in your images.Best regards.