Sunday 27 March 2011

Tiara photo


This tiara isn't finished or anything (notice the sloppy wire wrapping). It's an idea that I tried out and then I spent a lot of time thinking of a decent way to photograph it. So here the photos are about how the object is captured, not how the object actually looks.

Just placing it on paper made the tiara seem so flat and it was hard to get down in a good position to shoot it. Ideally I would've used a model -- live or plastic -- but I didn't have one so I hade to try some other ideas.



I tried placing it on a pillow covered with dark red velvet, as seen below. Kind of a classic. The pillow in the middle raise the tiara a bit from the table and the fabric makes the display look more elegant. Also, with tiaras that aren't alice bands (intended to wear with the "legs" behind the ears) it looks a bit like how the tiara will sit on the bride's head. The idea was good, but my camera skills were poor and the pics all came out over exposed.

After that, I turned to the "invisible thread suspension method" -- as used before (more than once) -- and the first photo is the result of that. White beads and white background isn't ideal, but my main objective was to se how the suspension would work. In the pic you can see the "floating" tiara on top and then below that, the tiaras as seen photographed lying flat.

I like how it seems to float freely in the air, giving it a lightweight feel. It was a bit of a hassle propping it up and editing it so the last traces of the illusion cord disappeared, but I think I like the result. Probably nothing I'd do with all tiaras. If fact, it probably wouldn't look good with certain designs. But I think I'll use the method sometimes in the future as well. What do you think of it?

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By the way, can you see what the tiara embellishment actually is? That's right: an old illusion ("floating") necklace with cheap plastic pearls. Got it somewhere for free ages ago. I've also made another tiara using a simple rhinestone chain necklace I picked up in a second hand store.

6 comments:

  1. I totally see your idea with the floating look, something I would like to try soon myself, however, I do have to say that personally I love it on the red velvet, it looks so regal. It does look more like an Alice band when lying flat though, but a really lovely one, it is really pretty. I don't know what the best solution would be, ? A real model.
    Jenni

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  2. Yes, it does look regal -- like a mideval or fairy tale display -- doesn't it? I just wish my camera would like white jewellery on dark backgrounds better... It's a compact so there's limits to what kind of manual adjustments I can make, unfortunately. I must try and learn to use the manual exposure setting better because just using the exposure compensation setting doesn't help.

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  3. I like the 'floating' picture, but what makes it stands out is the 2nd picture, bringing it back to level - surprisingly that really makes the 1st pic stand out even more.

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  4. I never really thought about that, how the two pics "interact", before. But they do, don't they? One photo affects how you perceive the other. It'll be a good thing to remember when I work with other photos in the future.

    Thanks for your input, both of you!

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  5. Those are really beautiful. I love them.

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