The right light to make the best sculpture photographs in ABQ
It was great to have Sharon back in the JCP Home Studio with two more of her sculptures. I was surprised our first shoot was already over 1.5 yers ago! Last time we used a white seamless background, but Sharon wanted something this time for the limestone fox and marble birds. I suggested using one of my stone surface Duo Boards with just a black V-flat background. A little bit of tweaking of the light, adding a reflector, and voila, I was able to produce the high impact sculpture photos below (see the BTS shot for how I set things up). Shooting tethered really help me show Sharon how the light wrapped her sculpture in real time, so we could add some fill light with a reflector when needed for certain views of the sculptures. I of course welcome artist input during the entire shoot, as Sharon knows the views of her sculptures the best! Thank you Sharon for continuing to choose me as the photographer for your fantastic artwork!
Sharon had a long time photographer partner for her sculptures (check out her website). So when it came to finding another photographer to continue photographing her work, she searched for a long time, and I am glad to say she found and chose me! I always prefer the artist to present and have input, especially for the first photo shoot, after all, she knows which angles and perspectives are best of her own artwork! Sharon brought over five sculptures and with her placement and the simple, but effective lighting setup I had, it was a very smooth and productive art photo shoot. Thank you Sharon for choosing me as your new art photographer for your sculptures and I look forward to photographing your future work. And thank you for the 5-star Google review before I even delivered the photos!
Road trips are often dotted with stops suggested by the website Atlas Obscura. Such was the case for a recent trip to Tucson, Arizona where in an open air park, one can find a life sized sculpture of The Last Supper. The sculpture is part of the Garden of Gethsemane in Tucson, Arizona which can be reserved for special events. I was wondering what type of event you’d want such a sculpture for the background of? The original painting is of course in color and seems so active. The sculpture in white is much more stark, without that sense of movement so much. Scroll to the map below fro the location of this unusual garden sculpture.
There was just enough light left as twilight was arriving to get a few photos of the amazing metal dinosaur sculptures of Rattlesnake Ranch in Benson, Arizona (see map below for directions). These near life-size dinosaurs, though rusting, show their personality, their ferociousness, and some their peaceful nature. For a dinosaur fan, this is a must see and worth going off of the interstate to find. I recommend going near sunset time to get the most out of their desert setting.
Nikon D80 Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D @ f/2 ISO 800 1/100th
As myself, I do not often go over to other people's houses, being somewhat of a recluse. However, as a photographer I find myself in places I would otherwise never venture. One such place was a downtown St. Petersburg condo with as good of a view as you can get in this area. I was there to photograph a wedding (photos). The owner of the condo was obviously well off and appreciated the arts for the condo had assorted sculptures and paintings throughout it.
The sculpture above at first startled me with its realness. It was creepy. I did not want to look at it, but one does not see such a piece of art in a domestic setting that often. The start of the wedding was delayed so I had a few spare moments to try and best photograph this most unusual severed hands, abruptly scalped sculpture. The figure appeared to be staring into the room. Boring her eyes into something. I did not want to photograph that gaze directly so opted for this profile shot, allowing me to include a bit of bokeh from the hanging lights in the dining room.
