Saturday, April 21, 2007

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.

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