Latest Mandolins

Here are the latest two pictures of the "infamous" mandolin.

They were shot with one AB400 strobe with a 30deg grid above and behind the instrument, and a gray foamcore reflector in front.

My intention was to put so little light on the strings and frets that they are barely visible in the shadow. I think these have too much light on the front. I need a darker reflector, I might try some shiny black fabric next time.


Almost no mandolin at all:

Canon 30D with EF-S 17-85 @ 50mm 1/250 @ f/8 manual exposure manual focus RAW capture



a little more mandolin showing here

Canon 30D with EF-S 17-85 @ 85mm 1/250 @ f/5.6 manual exposure manual focus RAW capture

Charles,

The first picture gave me a jolt! I'm crazy a bit, yes, but I love your mandolin pictures! The first one move me and it was an experience. It's the sensual shapes. I get that when I see a beautiful woman.

So I can say, for me, at least, the first one works. The second, like the girl with the girl you like, is so secondary that I cannot as yet do it justice. (I'll look at it on its own later)........................

Well, I came back and things have changed! They in fact belong together. I believe. These are pictures that need to be printed and put on a wall. One cannot do real justice to certain images with either one look or the small size of the screen.

Certainly your mandolin photography is well thought out and excecuted, embedding in them your feelings. These transfer to me at least and the Arc of your Intent is completed. That's very satisfying to me.

For now, I'll not talk about composition, lighting, textures, colors, shading and so forth. The pictures work and are geting even more interesting!

Asher

Hi Charles,

I am very pleased to see these, sort of made my day. The second could be an illustration from a science fiction novel. I could say the artistic skill of the photographer approaches the skill of the mandolin maker in these.

Thanks for posting.

Best wishes,

Ray

Ray West said:

Hi Charles,

I am very pleased to see these, sort of made my day. The second could be an illustration from a science fiction novel. I could say the artistic skill of the photographer approaches the skill of the mandolin maker in these.

Thanks for posting.

Best wishes,

Ray

Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment Ray, though I hope my skill exceeds that of the instrument maker, because this is a cheap mass-produced instrument that likely never felt the hands of a master instrument maker.

It is quite remarkable how differently this is seen by its viewers. I would not have made a sci-fi connection here, but in looking, I can certainly see what you mean.

Thanks

Hi Charles.

and the music would be... 'Stairway to Heaven' ;-)

Best wishes,

Ray

Mandolin to heaven

Ray West said:

and the music would be... 'Stairway to Heaven' ;-)

Click to expand...

Hmmm, "Stairway to Heaven" played on a mandolin.... I just wonder if I can get some friend to....
hmmmm

Sounds like an inspiration to me Ray

Charles,

Any more pictures in this series!

Asher

Dueling mandolins

Asher,

There may be other shots from that session that might yield good pictures. I "cherry picked" the best even though they didn't reach my goal. I'll revisit the RAWs and see if others are worth processing and posting.

Thanks for your continued enthusiasm and support.