How to: photograph your teaware. A beginner's guide.

[Seeker]

Thanks LP and D - I very much appreciate your comments.
I'm such a beginner with photography, and feedback really helps.

[Seeker]

After enjoying Adam's photo of his new chawan, I got inspired to
crop an image.
I'm not sure if my idea works tho, so I thought I'd share it and ask for feedback?
Does this work?

[Seeker]

Hmmm
After that post, I wanted to crop more.
This any better?

[debunix]

I like the 2nd crop better, the triangles of the ridge at the edge of the cup and the shadow are symmetrical and emphasized.

[elf_man]

Unless it's for a specific purpose, I tend to prefer a standard aspect ratio. So the second, extra-narrow crop isn't really necessary. In any case, the lines that carry the composition are quite clear in your first crop; at that point, the extra detail on the chawan that the first crop provides help the photo, since the point isn't to show off the lines so much as to to present the character of the chawan.

[Seeker]

Thanks for the feedback e and d.
Both of your comments really make sense to me.
Hmmm.

[edkrueger]

I have a question for those that appreciate photos. I showed a pic of my TC avatar that I've been using of late to someone, and got a pretty negative response.
Does it suck and I don't know it?

(I've been really liking it. )

Since you asked... I think it is OK, but it isn't great. The problem for me is the framing. Just having the bottom of the chashaku barely cut off and there being almost no space at the top of it doesn't work.

[Geekgirl]

The color and contrast are really nice, but I agree that things in a photo that are barely cut off are a distraction. A thin margin of unbroken black background across all sides of the image would have helped. That being said, I like the image. I tend to like symmetry as an artistic device, even though it generally breaks the rules of composition.

[Geekgirl]

Speaking of breaking the rules... here's a device that has become way overused, but it's loads of fun anyways: Lensbaby (selective focus.) The lensbaby is low tech, it doesn't send any information to the camera at all, it's basically an aperture on a shifting bellows, allowing you to set the "sweet spot" to somewhere other than dead center. There's no autofocus, so if you have rotten vision like I do, it can be difficult to get it right. "Live view" helps.

It does make for some fun shots though (if you can ignore the horrifying chromatic aberration, HA!).

Dong Ding I


Dong Ding II


(Does anyone else start singing "Dong Ding the witch is dead, Which old witch? The Wicked Witch...?" as soon as you start brewing this tea? I know I know! Batsh*t, huh?)

[Victoria]

Very nice! And yeah, I sing the rhyme.

[AdamMY]

This is more of a test, and mind you I only have a Sony Cybershot point and shoot, so nothing elaborate here.

But some of my favorite photos are of very specific details or have only one thing of major interest in them. I feel they are less busy that way, that is not saying there can be minor things of focus in the background and such.



But this has been something I wanted to capture for a long time, as whenever I admired this piece, I always thought of that as the bit of tea that got stuck inside. As I only have consumed Japanese Greens or water out of this cup, and it looks like a little drop of green tea dripping between an outer glaze and the inner glaze.

[rjiwrth]

I seriously need help. I have wanted to upload some of my pics since I joined last year. My problem is trying to actually upload here. I have a simple dig camera, nothing fancy. I have managed to download some of my newest pics to my netbook, but here they sit. Can anyone point me to a post that has directions for this or otherwise hold my hand?! I would have loved to share the mess I made yesterday when trying to brew my YM in a gawain; if I'd only I'd taken a shot of it to share. Laughter is very good medicine and I'm afraid some of my latest efforts at brewing have produced lots of healing, so I'd like to share some of it
Rebecca

[AdamMY]

Rebecca, it is easiest to get a Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa web albums account upload your photos to there, then look for a link to the photo ending in the photo extension usually .jpg . Different sites have different places to grab the image link (it usually is not the url of the page the image is on ).

Once you have it click on the "Img" button at the top of the post, and paste the link between the tags that appear.

I hope this helps.

[rjiwrth]

Rebecca, it is easiest to get a Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa web albums account upload your photos to there, then look for a link to the photo ending in the photo extension usually .jpg . Different sites have different places to grab the image link (it usually is not the url of the page the image is on ).

Once you have it click on the "Img" button at the top of the post, and paste the link between the tags that appear.

I hope this helps.

Yes! Thanks, AdamMY. I have a Picasa web album already, so it sounds like part of the effort is already taken care of...I will give it a whirl!

[rjiwrth]

Rebecca, it is easiest to get a Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa web albums account upload your photos to there, then look for a link to the photo ending in the photo extension usually .jpg . Different sites have different places to grab the image link (it usually is not the url of the page the image is on ).

Once you have it click on the "Img" button at the top of the post, and paste the link between the tags that appear.

I hope this helps.

Yes! Thanks, AdamMY. I have a Picasa web album already, so it sounds like part of the effort is already taken care of...I will give it a whirl!

Here's an attempt...