Week 9: Let There Be Light!

on a light table

I got myself a small light table this week.  I have been wanting one for a while and the act of putting this topic on my list for the year guaranteed that I would get one sooner rather than later.  It arrived Thursday evening and I had some fun with it yesterday and again this afternoon.  What I learned:  

1.  I need to work on ideas for arranging items in different and appealing ways

2.  I still need quite a bit of light above the light table for the photos to work

3.  Slicing fruits and vegetables thinly and evenly is impossible

4.  Cat fur adds nothing creative to light table photographs

I found the website of an artist who is selling her photos - many of them taken on a light table - and it all looked so easy.  I should have known it wouldn't be...those photos were quite expensive and now I know, for good reason.  Well, now that I have the table, I can practice more.  I just need to find something that will slice produce thinly and evenly.

We begin with some flowers.  I bought a bouquet specifically for photographing but of course, it was more difficult than I thought.  The daisies wouldn't sit flat and I couldn't think of what to do with them.  These frilly flowers wouldn't sit flat either but I just went with it.

When I tried to cut off a bulging part on the back of a daisy, the petals all fell off so I made use of them.  Lining them all up was very difficult and when one got moved, it was almost impossible to fix it without moving everything else.  I discovered that I do not have a very steady hand.

I did like the fern however.  I took a variety of shots but this off-center one was my favourite for some reason.

I tried some marbles (the flat ones from our Mancala game) but truly, I can't tell if these are in focus or not.  I'm not sure if the glow around the edges is from the light or poor focus.

We always have candy in the house...

I have a bag of coloured feathers for some unknown reason.

Then out came the produce.  First we have a ghost onion.  I think this would have been much better if I could have sliced it much more thinly.

You can see how uneven the kiwi was cut (although it looked nice and even to my eye) in the gradations of green.  Less light comes through the thicker parts.

 I liked the angle on this next photo because it shows the light glowing up on the edges of the veggies.  I should have changed my aperture to get more of it in focus but oh well.  Next time.

And then I got out the hummus and enjoyed a little snack.