Photographing my Work

Glass and Copper Kaleidoscope Wind Chime

Coast Chimes

Since moving from our old house, picture taking has been a major headache. It was always a challenge, but lately it has been a real problem. I moved inside to a photo studio, but the lighting was not nearly as nice as sunlight, especially for my glass pieces. Then outside again, which was okay, but I had to learn about the light on the new property. Then my wife started digging in the garden, which is very small, and I had to move again, and learn about the light, again.

I have a little corner with no dirt piles, an okay background, and on certain days, at certain times, decent light. However, we live on a hill with the ocean just below, and this, it turns out, creates interesting air currents (wind), and so it is a fun time trying to get a shot without the windsails flying around, the chimes twisting, the whole subject turning!

I have a ways to go, in my photo struggle. Right now, I am going out to struggle some more.

Coast Chimes, Work from the Past Year

Click on the image to see it larger

Some of my work as it appears on Flickr

Back earlier last year, I added a Coverflow page to my Coast Chimes website. The way it works is I upload pictures of recent works to my Flickr account, and the fifteen most recent works automatically appear on my website on the Coverflow page. So I use Coverflow to show what I have most recently made.

The process is automatic, so I had not recently actually gone to my Flickr account much. But the other day I was there, and I was struck by the thumbnail directory of my uploads, as shown above. That's a lot of work I did! Anyway, I thought the thumbnail directory looks kind of cool, so I share it with you.

At last~ Decent light!

Beach glass inspired kaleidoscope wind chime. Five copper chimes with a beach stone clapper. For more information, or to bid on this wind chime, Click here.

It's been a long, cold, wet, dark winter. For most of my work, I'm outside in unheated spaces. So it's been hard. If it's not so cold my fingers freeze, it's wet, which makes working with wood very challenging. But the worse is trying to take decent pictures. For that, I need light!

At long last, the sun was shining yesterday and I broke my schedule of going to Vancouver each Wednesday to take advantage of it. The light was really great for only about forty-five minutes, and I can tell you that was a busy three quarters of an hour! I took over three hundred pictures (each piece gets numerous pictures, and then I choose the best of the lot).

It was worth it. There is no doubt that the image is the most important element for selling my work online. So I'm very happy to have been able to get some decent pictures. Now to finish sorting through them all, and to update those on my website, as most are not so great.

My new website is into version 4.5 now. It's getting there. More on that later.

Pictures say it All

The original poorly lit image, and the somewhat better retake. In my excitement over a new design, I often can't resist taking pictures under far from ideal lighting conditions. Then, alas, I later have to go back and retake the pictures. A time waster. The latest beach glass inspired garden stakes are available on my website (three for the price of two!)~ now with better pictures!

An ongoing time gobbler for me is taking decent pictures of my work. Clearly, for selling the piece, the picture is key. After nearly nine years of doing this, pictures are still is a challenge.

Most often I know all too well when the light is wrong, and that I should not be taking pictures. This happens after just completing a piece, and being so excited (yes, still, after all these years!) I go ahead and take pictures. I know the best light to show off my work~ late afternoon as the sun sets, or a little earlier on an overcast day. Too early, and everything is too bright. A little late, and everything is too dark. So there is a fairly narrow window of opportunity for the best pictures. But in my enthusiasm for a new work, I sometimes can't resist.

Often I end up going back and retaking pictures. Sometimes I am horrified by how poor the first pictures were~ no big surprise that the wonderful new piece didn't immediately sell!

After dropping my beloved old Olympus D-250 three times, it finally broke two years ago. After trying out several cameras, I chose a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2, and love it. The macro function is fantastic, and it has this steady shot business which helps to compensate for a wobbly hand. Often I hold a big light in one hand, so taking dozens of pictures with one hand, this anti-shake function saves the day.

All I need is some sunlight filtering low through the sky, this time of year around 6:00 PM. Just a little while ago, 4:00 PM was the time to shoot. It moves up a few minutes each day, depending on the clouds, and how the sunlight is passing through the trees as it sets.

Yep, pictures eat time. But they sure are important.