Thursday, October 20, 2011

One simple bowl





The other day I took 57 photographs of this bowl.  I'm taking an online course through Find Your Eye Photography to learn the ins and outs of my new digital camera.  Our first assignment was to photograph something in many different types of lighting.  From the 57 photos I selected these three as versions that I liked.

It's surprising how much I've learned about my camera and about finding the light in photographs through this exercise.  I knew that it was all about the light but I didn't realize just how many different ways it can affect the image.  I'd been taking photos of things on my kitchen counter in the harsh halogen lights and wondering why the photographs didn't look like what I saw through the viewfinder. Now I'm beginning to discern some of the reasons.

This little handmade bowl was given to me by a Japanese student I tutored some time ago and it's really lovely.  It's simple and unassuming and I think I could keep taking pictures of it for a long time.  I'm recalling a book I read once by a woman who chronicled her attempts to draw a simple bowl and the things she discovered along the way.   Amazing what can be learned from a simple bowl!

5 comments:

  1. lovely shots of the bowl. isn't light fascinating?

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  2. Great post today. What a super idea to find/spend the time to learn about your camera.
    I always enjoy your photos, especially your nature shots.

    I always take way too many photos just to find the one I like.
    The best photos I take are in the morning at my studio window, with the lights on and large white paper on the counter.

    cheers, parsnip

    word verification was worstoge which just made me giggle and also such a great word for what some of my photos look like !

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  3. The second photo is so dramatic. The other highlight the shape and texture nicely.

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  4. Great examples of different kinds of lighting - the course sounds interesting. I must check it out. The bowl itself is very wabi sabi - I like the pearl sheen in the first photo.

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  5. I really like the first and second shots...it's amazing the difference that a little light makes!

    Rachael
    Healthy Sexy Photo Challenge

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