For the last post I shot this photo with some of my glass bottles, to go with the new ones I had purchased, the day before. I was looking for different but similar shapes. That is when I realized that I have a lot of glass bottles, and a lot of other things, too. These things were purchased because I liked them and I wanted to use them as photo subjects. I don’t collect anything. I don’t say “Ohhh…, That is a glass bottle I have to add that to my collection.” I say ” Ohh! How would that look to photograph with a sunflower in it? or that is an interesting shape vase, it would look so Cool with….” or “That is the most funky buffalo planter and he needs to be photographed with the trolls surrounded by daisies…” It is not until I start putting things together that I realize that I have a collection, or two, or ten, or???
During this photo shoot an idea for a new blog post was inspired, I cleared off my photo table and started grabbing glass bottles, not the jars just bottles…
This is a pretty good representation of my bottle collection that is usually spread all over my house and photo area. It is not the whole collection, and I admit some of them I have had more than 20 years others just a few days. While it was fun to find these bottles, it quickly became boring to photograph them by themselves. I had so many ideas for things that I had collected and if I tried to photograph each group of things individually, I could be photographing for days….
I decided to add multiple collections in one photo. A lot more fun to make it interesting.
My first idea was using the fake flowers, and then adding some of my vases, not just the ceramic vases but some of the pottery vases as well. 3 collections in one shoot.
I remembered the shot of the feathers and natural forest and decided to recreate that again. Every time I photograph them it is different. I looked at the small rocks and crystals and thought…. I have many collections of big rocks in my yard. All of which have been used in various photo ideas including my coffee cup and thermos collections
Again, a small sampling of all 3 different items, but the boulders are hard to move so you have to work with them where they are…. all over the place….
These rocks have been good backdrops for the troll family and their pet lizards and sometimes if I am lucky, I can catch a real lizard.
I admit the troll family and their pet lizards have been of my most favorite subjects to photograph. They inspire my sense of whimsy and they are quite portable…. I can take them most places, simply tucking them into a backpack, tote, or basket and placing them wherever I think I can get a fun photo…
Each photo idea that was photographed inspired another idea and all were taken within a 3- or 4-day period of time. Truth is I would come up with a new idea and go out and shoot it then come back in and deal with the photos. The next day I would start the process over again. Adjusting this, tweaking that.
Thinking I have more backgrounds and cloths that could be used but I have never used them, wanting to do something with my collection of string, adding a paperweight and a brown glass globe, a couple strings of faux pearls some shiny beads, marbles, small Christmas ornaments and glass stones. I played with the idea of circles…. The balls of string were made by me as a rehabilitation exercise for my left wrist, that I had broken one summer.
I have taken a stash of 2x4s and 2×6 scraps and painted them some of my favorite colors or just white simply to use as photo props. Those were inspired by some wooden cubes that I picked up at a business closing sale. Most of the time they are under a cloth giving me elevation in my photos but what better way to use that collection of props than to show off my collection of broken of old cameras and lenses. All of these cameras except for the two Polaroid cameras, I have used in my photography journey and with the exception of a couple of them most of them are just worn out from use. Lots of use. I have a pretty good collection of photographs, Too….
Deanne Dements Photography 