About the Image(s)

“This is my first attempt at still life photography. It’s titled “Midnight Altar”. I was set on this direction after watching a YouTube video of a photographer that did an old world look on a still life table filled with slightly rotting fruit. It was a VERY interesting set up and process. I love photography that requires some critical thinking on the end result. Basically, you come up with a concept, and then you start gathering the elements and finally putting it into some kind of a composition to be photographed. In this photo I first picked the glass bottle and a thick black candle. I sped along the melting process with a small hand torch. I have an extensive collection of glass spheres, quartz crystal, and some of the tiny elements in the image (cross, sphere holders. I had to purchase the realistic snake, which I know worked because several that have seen the photo asked if it was real and how I managed to get it to perch on the sphere. I bought the flowers (They’re fake. Made of wood) at the local grocery store. The lighting was changed one way or another to highlight items on the table. In total I shot well over thirty variations on the lighting, including one where I blew out the candle to get a smoke column. That didn’t pop as I expected. I added a photograph of the actual set up. The only lights that wee adjusted frequently are the overhead Small Rig LED ‘s. This is an exciting new direction for me. I’d appreciate any comments. Also happy to answer any questions. I’ve often said that I like talking about photography as much or more as do taking the photographs.”