CEE’S BLACK & WHITE PHOTO CHALLENGE: SCULPTURES, STATUES, CARVINGS
Photographing small, antique bronze sculpture turned out to be a lot more difficult than I expected. I’m sure setting up some lights would have helped, but I put away my lights a few years ago and the idea of climbing into the attic to dig them out did not appeal to me. Nonetheless, I thought this was a good opportunity to finally make a few good pictures of some of my most prize possession, my Asian sacred art bronzes.
Vishnu Rides Garuda. Tibet.
Buddha. Tibet.
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Categories: #Photography, Arts, Cee's Photo Challenge
ABSTRACT BY NATURE 
SCULPTURES, STATUES & CARVINGS IN BLACK & WHITE 
MIDWEEK MADNESS? 
ANTHURIUM OR FLAMINGO LILY 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Very nice work Marilyn. You didn’t need the lights.
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I am so lazy. I did need lights. I probably used twice as much effort to NOT have to go get the lights 🙂 Thank you!
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Great details in the second one. The first one has been captured with an interesting angle. I have few bronze sculptures at home and taking a photograph can be so challenging I never knew. You have inspired me a lot. Let me click some and share it with you tomorrow.
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It is harder than it looks. Try shooting outside in bright shade.
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Done.
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You can’t beat natural light, but you don’t want the sharp shadows of direct sun, so bright shade it is 🙂
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You have pulled out some wonderful detail in these statues. Thanks Marilyn 😀
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This is probably the 7th or 8th time I’ve tried to get decent pictures of these bronzes. This are the best of the lot. I’m still not entirely satisfied. Thanks Cee 🙂
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Amazing.
Leslie
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Finally, a couple of pictures that almost do them justice 🙂 Thank you!
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It is stunning how it shows the details. Although, how do you filter the background out. Beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing.
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The background filtering was complicated … I used a NIK filter set for Antique and then adjusted it until it looked the way I wanted it to. It took a while!
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There is a filter set for antique? I have so much to learn. I would frame these pictures for my Buddha collection.
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NIK filters are an add-on program for Photoshop and other applications. Lots of different filters sets and “looks” you can apply and then adjust to the particular image. I’m still learning how to use them.
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To be honest, even with low light it looks good… I actually thought the effect was intended. The first image has a nice grey brown tone… looks like intended 🙂 I like these sculptures, but I am biased, I like all kind of asian things for the living room 🙂
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It is intended. It’s a very old bronze, probably around 600 AD. I wanted to give that sense of age. Thanks for noticing!!
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Wow impressive how old! Also well presented, you gave it that sense 🙂
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It is a very rare thing — an official antique certified by the Chinese government. Which means I could have gotten it for $200, but paid more than twice that because I wanted the provenance, the official seal. I worked harder at this picture than I usually do because I’ve taken a lot of pictures of it, but never liked any of them. It’s a hard piece to photograph. I’m not sure why.
It’s more than a thousand years old — Vishnu riding the great bird, Garuda. I bought and sold a lot of antiques, but this one, I had to keep. There was something special about this one and I could not let it go. The other one is undated. I think it’s probably from the 18th century, but because I don’t have the provenance, I can’t be sure. I just liked it, so I kept it. Like the other one, I’ve taken a lot of pictures of it and never liked any of them.
I have a lot of very old things. Chinese porcelain back as far as Neolithic — I guess that would be pre-porcelain. All of it is difficult to photograph. You need studio lights to do it justice.
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Yes that is already pretty much category product photography. Maybe you are up for more pictures some day and want to get the lights out of the attic. I saw some great DIY lightbox tutorials on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+light+box
I think your sculptures are perfect for that kind of photogaphry and I would get my hands on that project out of pure boredom, but that said, your two images are already cool enough… I like both pictures!
I don’t collect antiques but I must admit that I find it interesting. My mother did sell quite a lot of antique things and she does also hold on some things, but these things are not that old as your sculptures. I get the point of antiques, they have charm, I like old things.
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For me, antiques are history I can hold in my hand. I love imagining who may have owned it. Where it has been, what it has seen.
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Looks like you succeeded, though. This looks like professional photography to me.
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Thank you. It would have been a lot easier if I’d taken it outside where the light is brighter. I like shooting on the glass table in the living room, even though it’s a bit dark because it makes things look like they are floating … but it is a bit on the dim size and I stubbornly refuse to use flash 🙂
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