After a considerably long absence, I have finally found the time to get back into my still life. For a time I have been suffering from a bit of “artist’s block”. I just haven’t been able to come up with a clear idea in my head. That all changed last week when I was suddenly struck with the greatest idea, flying paper angels. Yes, it was so simple.
For the better part of four months now I have been trying to do something with a few of the really old books I have lying around. For a while I was trying to make something that kind of resembled and alchemist's workshop. After a few months of that going nowhere I decided to scrap that project and use the props to create something different. The idea was simple, lay a book out on a table and make some angels come out of it. I wasted no time, as soon as the idea was in my head I set out to get supplies.
In total, I think I spent two days looking for the right books. The main book in the center of the image is my 19th century edition of the New Testament and Psalms. If you are interested in the books themselves, I cover them in detail in my upcoming post on my other website http://topshelfbookclub.com. The other three are some equally old books I found at my favorite used bookstore. Once I had the main element, it was time to find some angels. The angels I used were from several clipart sites I found using google. The most prominent being, freepik. I cut each angel out using an exact-o knife and strung them up using some thin sowing thread. The candle sticks and the glassware were all found in goodwill.
The trickiest prop to get though would have to be the wooden table. I made the table from several scraps of reclaimed wood that I found in the woods behind my house. I spent an entire morning pulling apart what appeared to be a wrecked pool deck with nothing but a crowbar and a hammer. This was probably the most fun part of the entire project.
Once I had all of my little goodies ready, it was time to put everything together. The resulting image is composited from several images. The main sources of light were my two soft boxes and my trusty off camera flash. The background however, is an old landscape of mine that was swapped in to give off more of an angelic glow. The only thing that really bothers me though is that background. If I could do this again I would have chosen a better setting.
It took a considerable amount of time to combine all these images together. I was especially happy though, that I got to learn a few new photoshop techniques. Overall, I am really happy with this image. It gives off a warm feeling of happiness and joy that I relate to listening to piano music in church. Quite the change from my original intention of making an alchemist’s dungeon.
After finishing up my original image I decided to use some of the leftover props to shoot a little still life. I call this one, “A Bowl Full Of Apples”.
Well, that’s what i’ve been up to as of late. I had a lot of fun making these images. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do. Have a safe and happy day everyone. I will see you the next time I get back to the studio.
