kbobam Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 I've been experimenting lately, and I've come to a conclusion. It pays to be flexible. Marbles can be fickle, and it's hard to know just what they 'want'. This shot of a Blood Viper (or what have you) isn't bad, but it doesn't show the marble's 'fire' at its best. I have yet to get a really good shot of one of these indoors. They simply seem to demand sunlight, and I should probably just accept this. I also tried using a different post-processing program recently, and was surprised at how different its results could be from my usual software. Some shots were outstanding in one and terrible in the other (and vice-versa). No amount of adjusting could change this. Sometimes I think marbles just like to be difficult. ( : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Looks like a drawing. Funny (interesting). You see paintings which looks like photos. You don't expect to see photos which look like paintings. But you've managed that before (thinking about a twig with blue shadow). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustyman73 Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Having dabbled a bit in marble photography myself, they are definitely tricky!! Good light is a must, but too much light can be just as bad. One thing marbles will definitely do to whoever keeps on trying to take pictures of them...Marbles will make them a better photographer!Shooter Cateyes by Dusty_73, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Really nice! And above and beyond all the 'overall' tricky stuff, you also chose to make it even more difficult by doing a marble shot with limited depth of focus. This is almost always a losing proposition, but your particular layout/design works wonderfully here! ( : It's always been a funny 'concept' to me that, when you think about how a camera works technically and optically, that a 'sphere' is just a ridiculous thing to try to photograph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Thanks, Steph! As you knew when you wrote it, I took your comment as a compliment. But it did remind me of the frequent frustrations I deal with in my 'camera forum'. There are so many people there who've been brainwashed that there are certain rules that must be followed in order for a photograph to be 'real', that they will probably continue forever to insist that their hideous results are the only way to go! Real? It's a photo! The only 'reality' is being there at the time! A good example of this might be the possibly 'hyper-reality' photo I took of my 'marble-mail' Bananas. I loved these so much that I made a point of waiting several days for what I thought were just the right conditions to shoot them. If you were actually there at the time, you would have been half-blinded by the low-setting sun and wouldn't have ever seen this exact situation. But I used some of the same high-tech deflector and reflector techniques they use in Hollywood (black and white cardboard!) to make the final result look 'good'. Have I 'sinned' against reality? This is probably a 'semantics' argument. Like most arguments are. But anytime anyone genuinely feels they captured the 'essence' of a marble as they personally see it, then they've made a successful 'translation' in my opinion. Will shut up now before I get into one of my still a hippie mostly 'what is reality really?' rants! ( : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raynsandy Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 imho The hardest of all marbles to photograph are sulphides or those with a majority of clear glass. I have found that direct sunlight, (not through the window, but outisde) often produce the best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 I can only imagine how difficult that would be. Making an overall realistic marble image, and at the same time keeping that 'built in' image looking as it should sounds like a tough balancing act! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 The banana pic- is beautiful,yet so bright.The other pic- are nice aswell. I do not have much patience in making them,although I like to take marble pic-. I'm more of the fast result,maybe it's a pity but... I agree that marbles with a clear base could be for a good result,taken in direct sunlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Thanks, Winnie. With this kind of shot, the hardest thing for me is controlling the reflections. 'Control' in this case can mean either the amount or the location or both. You can sometimes limit the amount of reflection with a polarizing filter, but for this to work well the sun-marble-camera 'angles' have to be just so. This isn't always possible, because probably the most important thing is to position the marble and camera so the location of any bright reflections is on the transparent part of the marble. This usually gives a much more pleasing result than having a bright sun spot right in the middle of the pattern. ( : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Thanks for the lesson!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustyman73 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Really nice! And above and beyond all the 'overall' tricky stuff, you also chose to make it even more difficult by doing a marble shot with limited depth of focus. This is almost always a losing proposition, but your particular layout/design works wonderfully here! ( : It's always been a funny 'concept' to me that, when you think about how a camera works technically and optically, that a 'sphere' is just a ridiculous thing to try to photograph! I appreciate the kind words! And you're right about trying to photograph a sphere, especially a small one! And the darn things like to roll around! Glad we don't have to pay for film and processing anymore, because it usually take a lot of tries to get the desired result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustyman73 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Quote by kbobam "Have I 'sinned' against reality?" Nope!! Camera reproduction of reality, even with the best of cameras, is almost impossible to replicate perfectly. Working with whatever tools you have in order to get the best result possible is just being a good photographer! That's my thoughts, anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco005 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Ditto what Winnie said ! I certainly need a real camera now, I'm pretty sure you guys would laugh if you knew what my "settings" were. I have a lot to think about now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeperman Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Nice stuff Bob! I like your way of thinking and then putting it to use. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbobam Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Thanks, everyone! I'm glad this post wound up having a little 'food for thought' in it. I was worried that maybe I was 'going off' a bit too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Ding Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 This is an interesting post. I'm am not a photographer, and know almost nothing of these things, but I have been working with my limited experience and equipment and agree with the posts above. I've taken so many marble pictures it's almost made me crazy OCD. Marbles are tricky to say the obvious. I've come to appreciate that taking a good mib picture will always be a series of compromises; and different marbles require different approaches. Mostly I've been interested in improving on those really tricky transparent ones...depth of field, achieving a 'rounder' appearing marble, and making the mib appear more as it is 'in hand.' Taming light is a bugger. It's so slippery. This example of a shooter wire pull I think, is an improvement in some regard. Will I ever be happy? Probably not. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 You folks do great!! I know I have had to accept a much lower quality in my marble pics than what I believe I should be able to achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco005 Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 I have to know John...... No light spots or reflections, how did you do it? longer exposure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Ding Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Thanks for your thoughts! I turned off the flash on that one as you might know, but there was a bit of luck in it too, I'm sure. I'd bet I'd have to take a bunch more before I had those results again. As you guessed, I had to tinker with the exposure as well. Back to the marble-lab for more photography. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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