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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/4, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pot
a very, very valuable pot by Koji Kamada (鎌田幸二)
Kyoto friend Zak Braverman was asked by his friend, pottery artisan Koji Kamada, to take photos of some recent pieces. Knowing I'm into photography, and of late trying to up my game on artificial lighting, Zak kindly invited me along.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Zak, Making Do
framing tests before we break out the tripod
I prepared everything I imagined I would need for, well, what I imagined I would be shooting, but upon arrival I quickly realized that my imagination differed significantly from reality, and we were totally unprepared. Specifically, I was unprepared for 1) the need for dark backgrounds instead of white, and 2) pottery that had direct reflections, like a mirror.
We ended up cobbling together the most incredible kludges to try to get some kind of reasonable lighting, all the while I could feel the authors of “Light — Science and Magic” rolling in their graves (which is all the worse because they're not even dead).
We (or, at least, I) failed miserably for the kind of shots that they were looking for, but I'll be much better prepared if I ever get a chance to do it again.
Still, some of the shots are nice enough for the lower standards here at Blog Chez Jeff, so here are a few from today, starting with a basketball-sized pot that costs more than my camera...
Now we move to a kouro, an incense burner (香炉)....
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 0.4 sec, f/11, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Incense Burner
by Koji Kamada (鎌田幸二)
The finish on Kamada-san's pots are incredibly detailed with artifacts of the production process (artifacts that are apparently the whole point of the production process). Photos don't do it justice, but here's some detail...
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/30 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ever So Slightly Purple
Then we had two tea bowls, one for winter and a wider, more shallow bowl (that allows its liquid to cool more quickly) for summer. First summer...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tea Bowl
by Koji Kamada (鎌田幸二)
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/1000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Showing Results to Mrs. Kamada
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Winter Tea Bowl
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Exquisite Detail
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Soft
@ f/2.5
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/4 sec, f/22, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Same Thing
but @ f/22
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 0.4 sec, f/11, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hyper Detail
for this macro, put the light directly to the side
Update: Here are some of Zak's photos from the session.
Wow! Very very nice pottery (and photos)! If I didn’t have a baby on the way and no job prospect in a few months, I would probably consider buying one 🙂
Failure…. Hardly.
Very cool photos!
Just a quick question- are you using the 10-24 wide angle in DX mode or are you cropping afterwards?
it
That’s in FX mode, uncropped. When you’re at 10mm, you can see the image circle (which makes, in this case, for quite an interesting shot, I think), but it fills the full FX frame at 24mm. This was Zak’s lens that I borrowed for lack of having my own wide-angle lens with me. —Jeffrey
Very nice all the way around. Thanks.
Beautiful burnishing — is that what it’s called?
Most of his stuff is Tenmoku (天目) —Jeffrey