Photography of Sculpture

Photography of sculpture requires an understanding of the work by the artist involved and also a not insignificant ability to use lighting to bring out texture and colour. It is crucial to work in conjunction with the artist to ensure the look and feel is consistent with the way they see their work.

The lighting needs to show the three dimensional form of the object, easier  said than done. Sometimes a hard light will need to be used to bring out all of the surface texture on the artwork and authorities a broad soft light is used. The light often comes from the top or the side but virtually never from the front. Maybe a reflector to fill the shadows is all that is needed.

I often gently digitally combine a number of captures and align the images in Adobe Photoshop where a reflective surface or other attributes of the artwork make it impossible to record in 1 shot. I guess this is like the “painting with light”technique of old.

 

I generally photograph small sculpture on a white background and use localised lighting often with the background going dark. I shoot with a Canon 5DsR onto a large screen calibrated monitor to check colour and contrast etc. My chosen software is Adobe Lightroom which I use to edit the images and find fast and acquire in the rendition of colour.

Have a look at a few recent examples that illustrate some of the techniques I mention.

Cheers,

David McArthur

Parallax Photography

 

 

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Karleena Mitchel

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Karleena Mitchel

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Karleena Mitchel

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Karleena Mitchel

Photography of Sculpture - Jenny Loft

Jenny Loft 2015

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Stephen Benwell sculpture 2015

Westpac Bank Photography

 

Parallax Photography has been commissioned to do all of the Victorian photography for Westpac Bank through Conway Design in Sydney. The images personalise the interiors of their banks, making them locally relevant. Combined with graphics, they enhance the interior environment of the sites for staff and customer interactions.

Throughout 2014 to 2016 Westpac bank has been localising their branches with imagery sourced from local sites relevant to the location of the bank branch.

David McArthur

Parallax Photography 2015

 

 

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Craigieburn -Westpac bank image

 

Agilent Laboratories Enviro Signage

Early in 2013 Agilent asked me to photograph various aspects of their new Spectroscopy Technology Innovation Centre so that environmental wall graphics could be made from these images.

Below you see some of  images that were produced for this purpose and the resulting wall graphics that very creatively produced by Frank Design and again photographed by myself.

David McArthur 12/2013

 

 

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Ranamok Glass Prize 2012

I was really pleased to hear that 3 of my clients Kristin McFarlane, Nick Wirdnam and Holly Grace were accepted into the very prestigious Ranamok Glass Prize in Sydney this year. For more information check out http://www.ranamok.com/

The winner will be announced in Canberra on the 16th of August, and I might just go along for the opening night!

Here are the beautiful entries from Kristin, Nick and Holly.

David McArthur

 

 

Nick Wirdnam …for health youth and hope

Nick Wirdnam …for health youth and hope

Nick Wirdnam …for health youth and hope

Holly Grace Threadbo

Kristin McFarlane Typographic Specimens: Lost Words

Kristin McFarlane Typographic Specimens: Lost Words

 

Our New Website

By the power of the grey skull its been a long and bumpy road to get this new website up, but the new Parallax website is finally here!

It has been a difficult task assembling all the images and getting the design and functionality to the highest of standards that you see here. I want to thank Mito Cubic  (email mitodc@gmail.com) for his fantastic design sense and Sharwan Kami (sharwan@gmail.com) for putting it all together and making it work! Both showed extraordinary levels of patience in dealing with a sometimes indecisive photographer.

I am very comfortable advising clients on the best images or approach to use for their project, but I must concede deciding on my best images to use for my own website,  and the format that this should be presented in has been a challenge of a magnitude that surprises even me!

The blog section seen here is going to be kind of a work diary where I put up some of the images that i am doing and perhaps entertain you with some dialogue about the work and details of the jobs.

I look forward to both writing the articles and receiving your comments.

 

David McArthur May 2012

Instagram

I am having fun now with a new iphone program called instagram.

 

These photos are just some funny little moment captured and edited on my iPhone 4s and now an iPhone 6

Check out what I have been up to. My username is davidm7  or at http://web.stagram.com/n/davidm7/ 

Cheers,

David McArthur

Product Photography

Product Photography

Whether you need your images for catalogues, websites, advertisements we offer a complete product photography service. With fast turnaround, full client approval before acceptance, and courier service, Parallax Photography can offer high-quality product and pack photography services to customers around Australia.

Situated in St.Kilda East, Melbourne Parallax Photography  is well placed to provide you with the perfect images for your requirements. Our studio is equipped with the very latest technology that you would expect from a modern Commercial Photographer, and more, ensuring a fast and efficient turnaround of your product shots. Clients are always welcome at our studios to discuss their projects or attend the shoot.

Proof Photographs for approval are sent by email, and then the full resolution colour corrected image files in are saved in TIFF & JPEG  and delivered to clients via FTP or DVD data disk. High Resolution images are saved at 300dpi and are suitable for printing. Web ready 72dpi at any pixel size you require however these are generally 700 pixels on the longest dimension. Images are generally saved in the Srgb colour space unless the client requests and understands how to use the Adobe 1998 colour space. Fore more information about this please discuss this at your shoot.

We also offer a low cost deep etching (cutting the image out against a white or black background) service on basic product photography.  While every deep etching job needs to be quoted on beforehand the cost starts from around $10.00 per image.

E-commerce is increasing exponentially. Consumers without the ability to hold and use the products beforehand are coerced by great photography. Ultimately, the more attractive your products look to consumers, the more confident they’ll feel about purchasing from you.

Our wine bottle photography is of a very high standard. In our studio, every wine bottle we photograph particular attention is taken to render the details in label printing,  glass and  foil reflections. Photoshop retouching is also possible on images and this can be used to repair a damaged item or to further enhance the image in a particular manner.

To discuss a project or request a quote we can be contacted at the studio on 03 9525 8323 or via email us at parallax@parallax.net.au

 

 

 

 

Kashmir & Rajasthan

Anyone that knows me well knows my passion for photographing people and culture throughout South East Asia and in particular  India. India is a country that fascinates me with the depth and complexity of its culture and religion. I managed to persuade my wife and 2 boys to travel  for 5 weeks through Kashmir and Rajasthan.  Here are some photographs that i took during this time.