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Dainty Murano Glass
Dainty Murano Glass
magnus


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Delicate (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Canon EOS-10D
Lens: Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX Macro for Canon
Location: Home studio
Date: Oct 25, 2005
Aperture: 16
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/10
Galleries: Still Life, Macro
Date Uploaded: Oct 25, 2005

 My wife owns two amazing glass unicorns from a trip to Murano, Italy. She saw this one getting made and, yes, it really is just the size of a couple of US dimes! (For those of you not familiar with US coins, a dime is 17mm across). Those little legs are so fantastically thin that it seems like some magic must have been involved in making it (hmmm, unicorns...). Here is the other one.

The setup is just what you see, the unicorn is balanced on its tail and the dime is balanced against the front leg. The lighting is two flashes, one straight down and the other bounced of a white reflector to the left. A slight bump in contrast and NoiseNinja (including sharpening) was the only postprocessing.

Statistics
Place: 98 out of 279
Avg (all users): 5.3550
Avg (commenters): 7.7500
Avg (participants): 5.1707
Avg (non-participants): 5.4564
Views since voting: 924
Views during voting: 337
Votes: 231
Comments: 11
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 11/06/2005 04:44:13 AM
Very Interesting...Love the choice of using a dime to mount the unicorn. Shows scale and detail. Nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/06/2005 12:10:59 AM
Hello Magnus, from the Critique Club.
This is an instructive critique for me, because I normally have no interest in 'studio' photographs, especially of inanimate subjects such as this. So, I've learned quite a bit as a result of being forced to take a more measured look. The quality of your photography is superb, especially as the lighting setup you describe is relatively simple. The subject(s) are beautifully lit for maximum impact, and I'm sure the unicorn was a difficult little critter to light effectively. The shadow is also terrific. I cannot agree with the commentator who suggested cropping differently; your composition/crop seems to me entirely appropriate ... it complements the fragility and elegance of this little work of art, and is therefore nicely chosen for the 'Delicate' theme. So, while it's not my cup of tea, but I do recognise the technical skill involved in your creating this image. The other attraction of this photograph for me was that it led me to your portfolio, which contains a delightfully eclectic collection of very fine photographs. I hope these few comments may lead others there as well.
Best wishes,
Paul Martin
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
10/28/2005 02:52:49 PM
Great effect!
 10/28/2005 01:32:41 PM
Uggh, Americans preoccupation with money, FDR was a pinko socialist, and I hate unicorns. That said it a rather good picture.
 10/28/2005 08:36:08 AM
Simple and elegant, I love it. The shadow adds so much to the dimension of the pic. Not sure if I love the stark white background though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/28/2005 08:32:48 AM
You must have spent ages getting the lighting right on this! - Very nicely done. And interesting composition too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/27/2005 01:23:14 PM
very nice and very different.
 10/26/2005 04:31:18 PM
wait - now it says I have not rated this?? Where is my comment from before??
Well... the gist of it was... "This is amazing fabulous....I know I'm biased, but the lighting, composition, detail, concept, fit to challenge couldn't be better! I particularly like the space above the subject emphasizing the small size, and the glossiness of the surface emphasizing the smoothness and fragility of the glass."
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/26/2005 01:34:34 PM
Nice picture, good lighting and a delicate balance. Only suggestion would be to crop to get rid of some of the dead space at the top.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/26/2005 12:29:00 PM
That's tiny, I can't imagine how difficult it was to balance it like that
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/25/2005 08:33:29 PM
Good Job ..


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