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A Vase of Flowers!

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I stood by in awe as the Curator of photographs at the Getty Museum looked at the photographs of Wild Flowers in Vases by Paul Chamlee. She always uses the lens stopped down. I, of course, almost never go beyond f 4.0 and 5.6 is aggressive. However, here, I ventured into the damaging region of f11.0, something never to do with tiny pixels!

I felt that it would be a tribute to her work to make pictures of flowers too. I have no easy access to wild flowers, but we always have fresh blooms from the supermarket....supplemented by flowers from my garden.


DSC03892_Steinhill Munchen 50mm 11.0.jpg


Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #01

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f11.0


Enjoy! Comment welcomed!

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
DSC03490.jpg



Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #02

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f8.0


more to come! :)


Asher
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Asher,

DSC03490.jpg


Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #02

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f8.0

These are both exquisite! They have a very ** "classical" (perhaps "1940's") look. Very nicely executed.

**Whatever I initially typed there, my spell checker changed it to "Jewry".
The first one almost makes me say, "almost looks like a photograph".

Bravo on these marvelous works.

And my congratulations to Messrs. Steinheil of Munchen. (My late first wife used to refer to people from Munich as "Munchkins".)

Best regards,

Doug
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
I stood by in awe as the Curator of photographs at the Getty Museum looked at the photographs of Wild Flowers in Vases by Paul Chamlee. She always uses the lens stopped down. I, of course, almost never go beyond f 4.0 and 5.6 is aggressive. However, here, I ventured into the damaging region of f11.0, something never to do with tiny pixels!

I felt that it would be a tribute to her work to make pictures of flowers too. I have no easy access to wild flowers, but we always have fresh blooms from the supermarket....supplemented by flowers from my garden.


DSC03892_Steinhill Munchen 50mm 11.0.jpg


Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #01

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f11.0


Enjoy! Comment welcomed!

Asher

DSC03490.jpg



Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #02

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f8.0


more to come! :)


Asher

Hello Asher

For some reason I am bothered by the table tops being part of the composition. What if you spent a little more time dressing up the table top in some way? Maybe some type of gift wrapping paper and some other flowers thrown around to try and blend the overall composition. Just my thoughts.

Best ,regards
James
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hello Asher

For some reason I am bothered by the table tops being part of the composition. What if you spent a little more time dressing up the table top in some way? Maybe some type of gift wrapping paper and some other flowers thrown around to try and blend the overall composition. Just my thoughts.

Best ,regards
James


Yes, I thought of that too, James! My wife had me return that table to my office, LOL! She's going to get me an acrylic table and I will put textured fabric over it. But, of course, I can do that anytime in Photoshop too. For now, don't let the table worry you. Thiese pretty things don't need and informed consent to be signed and I don't have to remember to tell them where the bathroom is! They are also in my house when I wake up!

Asher
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
Yes, I thought of that too, James! My wife had me return that table to my office, LOL! She's going to get me an acrylic table and I will put textured fabric over it. But, of course, I can do that anytime in Photoshop too. For now, don't let the table worry you. Thiese pretty things don't need and informed consent to be signed and I don't have to remember to tell them where the bathroom is! They are also in my house when I wake up!

Asher

Hello Asher

I was in a flower shop the other day and I thought to myself that it might be a nice place to sleep and wake up. Especially for the increased oxygen levels and wonderful fragrance!

James
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I was in a flower shop the other day and I thought to myself that it might be a nice place to sleep and wake up. Especially for the increased oxygen levels and wonderful fragrance!

Actually, plants use oxygen at night. They only produce oxygen when there is light, so it is not a good idea to sleep in a small room full of plants.
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I stood by in awe as the Curator of photographs at the Getty Museum looked at the photographs of Wild Flowers in Vases by Paul Chamlee.

Paula Chamlee is probably one of the best photographers to ever grace this forum. Her bouquets, in particular, appear deceptively simple but are not. I would not have taken up the task myself.

An important part of her images is that she manages to make everything but the bouquet and vase disappear. Elements like the table and background are obviously visible, but presented in such a way that the viewer will ignore them.

Another important part is the light. You will notice that the light is different between her classic bouquets and the more ikebana inspired compositions.

Last but not least the position of the camera, focal length and resulting perspective are not chosen by chance and she uses movements to ensure correct perspective of the vase and table.

You have picked up a very difficult task. But I seem to recall that you own a view camera, maybe now is the time to use it.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Paula Chamlee is probably one of the best photographers to ever grace this forum. Her bouquets, in particular, appear deceptively simple but are not. I would not have taken up the task myself.

An important part of her images is that she manages to make everything but the bouquet and vase disappear. Elements like the table and background are obviously visible, but presented in such a way that the viewer will ignore them.

Another important part is the light. You will notice that the light is different between her classic bouquets and the more ikebana inspired compositions.

Last but not least the position of the camera, focal length and resulting perspective are not chosen by chance and she uses movements to ensure correct perspective of the vase and table.

You have picked up a very difficult task. But I seem to recall that you own a view camera, maybe now is the time to use it.

Jerome,

Thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate your visit and comments.

Paula is indeed a star! Still stars do give light for the hunter. So that's my journey. For now, these are the views with a simple lens.

To Paula's pictures, she would spend hours in her studio arranging wild flowers as an inspiration for her other work which includes painting. Her husband, Michael A. Smith suggested to her that she photograph them.. The rest is history.

If you look again at the series of her pictures I linked to you will see that hte table is an essential part of the entire composition. Removing it would unbalance the photograph. That is a test the two of them apply to all their work. In each photograph, the table has more or less weight, but all are critical to the success. One picture demands a particularly noticeable presence of the table, as their are dropped petals on it.

My job is not to repeat her work, but to be energized by it.

At present, this is my work and there's more to follow using just the flowers we have. Later, I will work with the Canon 24mm T/S II lens for orthogonality. Film is ready in my freezer but too precious right now.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hi, Asher,



These are both exquisite! They have a very ** "classical" (perhaps "1940's") look. Very nicely executed.

**Whatever I initially typed there, my spell checker changed it to "Jewry".
The first one almost makes me say, "almost looks like a photograph".

Bravo on these marvelous works.

And my congratulations to Messrs. Steinheil of Munchen. (My late first wife used to refer to people from Munich as "Munchkins".)

Doug,

So happy you enjoy this too. Munich is a very special city for culture, architecture and engineering...and the famous Beer Garden!

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
If you look again at the series of her pictures I linked to you will see that the table is an essential part of the entire composition. Removing it would unbalance the photograph. That is a test the two of them apply to all their work. In each photograph, the table has more or less weight, but all are critical to the success. One picture demands a particularly noticeable presence of the table, as there are dropped petals on it.

I have spent a considerable amount of time looking at these pictures. I know the vase is always set on a table. What I am saying is that the picture is set in a way so that the table and background, although visible, are not seen. Of course they are there, but most people will only see the flowers. It is very clever.

The dropped petals have been disposed by hand, BTW. They are part of the device which makes the table disappear.
 

Rachel McLain

New member
I love both of these, Asher! I am not even sure I could choose--possibly the second but only because I'm especially partial to tulips. The first, though, is more striking. So I won't choose. ;-)

Rach
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
It is "van Gogh", actually. There have been countless painters who did bouquets set in a vase on a table. I think there have not been so many photographers who tried this subject, but I may be mistaken.

I like the fact that the vase is also essential to the composition thus hiding the stems.

James
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief

This picture, James, is an excellent expression of the directives that Paula and Michael set themselves in their own work. The table here is integral to the entire composition. What's even more obvious is that Van Gogh's brush strokes integrate the substance of the table into the entire creative universe of the piece.

The intimate admixture of texture, color and form is something that makes any photograph look bland.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Bouquet of flowers.

Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Fantin-Latour, Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Edouard Manet...


That's a feast of superlative art you share, Jerome. Thanks for raising the bar even higher. That's great, we should be humbled. That how we look up to see the full potential of what we are about to tackle.


Fabulous for inspiration. Daunting for following! Still, I will walk slowly and pick up what I gan gather that falls my way.


Asher
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
I stood by in awe as the Curator of photographs at the Getty Museum looked at the photographs of Wild Flowers in Vases by Paul Chamlee. She always uses the lens stopped down. I, of course, almost never go beyond f 4.0 and 5.6 is aggressive. However, here, I ventured into the damaging region of f11.0, something never to do with tiny pixels!

I felt that it would be a tribute to her work to make pictures of flowers too. I have no easy access to wild flowers, but we always have fresh blooms from the supermarket....supplemented by flowers from my garden.


DSC03892_Steinhill Munchen 50mm 11.0.jpg


Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #01

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f11.0


Enjoy! Comment welcomed!

Asher

DSC03490.jpg



Asher Kelman: Flowers by Glass Block in Southern Morning Light #02

Sony A7R, Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit 50mm 2.8 lens at f8.0


more to come! :)


Asher

Hello Asher

I will look forward to more of your work!

James
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hello Asher

I will look forward to more of your work!

James

Thanks, James,

With that support, I will go further!

I am not, however, going to alter the table, at this point. I just want to present the work so far. That table has been forever banned by my wife!

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
[_DSC8775__DSC8777-__Blue Bristle.jpg


Asher Kelman: Vase of Blue Bristles

Sony A7R 50mm Zeiss 1.8

3 Portrait Fields, CC 2015
Stitched in Autopano Giga 4
Nik Clarity


I hope you like the different angle.

Asher
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
[_DSC8775__DSC8777-__Blue Bristle.jpg


Asher Kelman: Vase of Blue Bristles

Sony A7R 50mm Zeiss 1.8

3 Portrait Fields, CC 2015
Stitched in Autopano Giga 4
Nik Clarity


I hope you like the different angle.

Asher

I like to cool tones and the geometry of the composition but I can't see the image in it's entirety with out scrolling up and down. However it appears that it has been shot at a downward angle as apposed to eye level. I thought that a crop part way up the bottom box might improve things and allow the composition to float in the surrounding negative space.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I like to cool tones and the geometry of the composition but I can't see the image in it's entirety with out scrolling up and down. However it appears that it has been shot at a downward angle as apposed to eye level. I thought that a crop part way up the bottom box might improve things and allow the composition to float in the surrounding negative space.

Hmm,

On my iPhone 6 it fits just perfectly. Also on an iMac. I tried to make it has large as possible.

Yes it was shot downwards!

Still, James, your here's a cropped version as you requested!


Blue thistles for Lemon.jpg


Asher Kelman: Blue Thistle

Cropped for James


I hope this works for you!

Asher
 
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