A Porcelain Art

My daughter's family is visiting this weekend and I am hosting a baby shower for their second baby.

My house was a wreck after working on my large family album for more than a year.  House needs to provide a nice and easy comfort. I don't expect myself to keep up a spotless living space, but I like it to be clean and not cluttered. Pressure is on when I am trying to joggle among my photography, my photo book and my family.

It was about 9:00pm when we came back from the walk and I finally had my place picked up and dishwasher unloaded. I lit a candle inside a candle holder with etched designs.  The soft shadow cast on tabletop created a pattern, intangible but beautiful. I found myself lost track of what's on TV....

By the time when I was back from my train of thought, I had my camera on the tripod. I put my strainer out and put the candle inside .  Not much shadow, the wick is kind of small and the light could barely shine through. 

Earlier today I intended to do some night shots without my flash and it sounded like a good time to do it.  But candle light was weak. I used a flash light instead. Flash light is better but where the shadow should go in order to make it a better (shadow) splash?  I tried various background but the shadow was just not substantial enough. I needed a flash, but no, I could not, I did not want to. I said that and I should insist.

Again I started to plough through my pantry, and I found an old white color plate with sculptured edges.  Instead of strainer, I used a bamboo mat that I used to make sushi as the media for light to shine through. Flash light became weak when the media was now a bamboo mat.  My husband witnessed my little struggle, he went down to the basement and brought me a clip light with halogen light bulb. Viola, this is it!  I don't need flash for this practice (I just need patience and perseverance to stick to my goal and not give up too easily)

The shadow on the plate is fine and long.  The white plate took all the filtered lights in. I could even

adjust the bamboo mat here and there to create different patterns. Just shadowed lines are not enough, what else can I do? color. So I added background color and took more shots. At first I saw large seashells. The white plate had sculptured edges and with lines added, they looked like seashells. I was happy but not excited.  I played with settings and I changed the angles. The unexpected images, at this point, were starting to pop, and I could not stop until I was completely exhausted. I looked up and the clock reads 2:14am.

The shadow on the plate makes it look fully sculptured . The porcelain glare and the curved lines are elegant.  And, the shadows on the background have added another dimension.  I also like the blue background which is almost like a piece of luxurious velvet embracing the priceless porcelain art.

It was a long day, but it was well worth it.