Losing my marbles...

My assignment this week is to make a home studio and take 4 photos, of 2 different subjects, using different lighting.  Our lecturer made it look unbelievably simple and did this in about 40 minutes.  Granted, he has a lot more knowledge than I do, but it just looked so easy and like such fun.  We have to use something see-through, or something with a reflective surface.  Jake's marbles are colourful, see-through and reflective - everything all rolled into one.  Thankfully, my spare bedroom is currently devoid of furniture, so it gave me plenty of space to play with.

NOTE:  IF YOU DON'T LIKE MARBLES, OR MY ASSIGNMENTS, CHECK BACK.

While I like all these photos, they could all do with a little tweaking, which is what I plan to do this afternoon - re-shoot.  The first photo is OK, but too close to the edge of the glass and you can see me in the marbles, which is what I was really trying to avoid.

The light in the next one is OK, but there's the darned edge of the glass again.  I also need to move that jar and the light behind its not great...

Better, but I need more light in the front and at the back...

 Darn it - need to move the marbles further onto the glass...

 And make sure that I get the full reflection in the picture...

 I quite like the colour and size of the big marble next to the little guys...

 Solitary, but might be a little too dark...

Too dark, plus green from the glass in front, but I like the layout...

 Ooooh... I like this...

 And what about this one?  Too much?

 And how about in colour?

 Back to the simple look, but again I need more light in the front.  It's good to see my pictures like this and to be able to criticise them properly...

 I like this view too, but I need to be careful to line them up straight and I will also need a better piece of glass.  I love the colours in these marbles.  They come from the transport museum in Glasgow, if you wanted to know...

 Sparkly marbles...

 Need to sort out the faded blue in the corners if I'm going to use this...

 OK, so something more sedate...  Too little light, not enough detail...

 Playing with backgrounds...

 I think I like this one best...

 And another view.  I need to move that paper label...

 My next subject was a bottle of perfume.  I can't remember what it's called, something by Elizabeth Arden...

 Better with the nozzel pointed forwards.  This one was using a gold reflector...

 And this one was with a yellow one...

 I like this, I like all the reflections.  I don't like the rough edge on the glass, or the dark stripe in the background.  And what is that mark on the perspex??

 Back to the marbles.  I need to work on this again today.  This marble is on a skewer stick, about 10cm in the air.  Needs more light.  Everything is about light here...

 My last subject for the weekend, was this cute little glass guitar.  I need to dust it before I re-shoot it.  I like the distortion of the line in the background.  Is too dark though..

 Also playing with backgrounds, I quite like this brightly lit up...

And just in case you were wondering what it all looks like, here you have it.  Please excuse the mess.  And no, I wasn't drinking that wine, I was using it to hold my perspex upright...

All these pictures are completely unedited and taken in the dark.  I'm quite impressed, but I know that I can still do better.  Watch this space!

Sue XXX