Perfection in Miniature

I’ve featured art treasures on occasion, and here’s one that truly took away my breath. This is carved wood, and just a small detail from a tremendous altarpiece, carved nearly five hundred years ago in Lombardy. I photographed it on November 1^st, 2010, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, during my third trip. Besides the jaw-dropping skill of the artist, what makes it interesting as a photograph? The piece is of course behind glass, and artificially illuminated, and gave all kinds of difficulty in maintaining focus, keeping the camera still (low ISO in those days) and finding an angle to exclude the reflection of lights in the glass. That small blue blob at the top is the only reflection. I took many frames but the inherent difficulty meant few came out really well. Minor adjustments to contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Afternoon Storm

Here is an engaging chequerboard of fields and floodings under a brooding sky. Staying with the aviation theme from last time, this shot was one of the series detailing my departure from Kuala Lumpur on November 8^th, 2012, on my way to the UK (a day late, the A380 had a breakdown that put me briefly in a hotel.) The day was changing fast and we took off into a stormfront, but planes that big seem unconcerned about mere weather! I was on the starboard side, so this is looking probably more or less northward. The tropical weather and the saturated landscape have a broody, rich quality that evokes thoughts of history and intrigue. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Spacescape? Not Quite!

Interesting, isn’t it? The deep blue at top left is evocative of space, at least the upper atmosphere, while the cloudscapes to lower right represent the turning planet. The eye tries to see a space perspective—but of course it’s not. I simply tipped the camera relative to the horizon, looking for potential background images for miniature photography. Match the lighting angle on a model aircraft or spacecraft, then use digital techniques to cut the craft from its background and composite it over this real sky photograph, and the result should be quiet convincing! I grabbed this frame on April 22^nd, 2014, on my way to London for a convention at the Park Royal, and was back in Australia a few days later—a wonderful memory! (Sadly, my last overseas trip, and the last time I flew.) This is exactly as the frame came from the camera, no adjustments were made at all; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike. Mm

 

Momentary Sun

The sun finding a way through the overcast elevates moody, murky images into clear, colourful pieces with an upbeat feel. I snagged this frame in the gardens of the York Museum in the November of 2011, on my fourth UK trip for the purposes of presenting at a conference at the University of Sunderland. York has been a favourite place since childhood and I often tried to swing by when I was in the northeast. After thick weather for much of the trip, the appearance of sunshine during my afternoon in York was a welcome change, and I was lucky enough to be among the gardens and ruins of the medieval St Mary’s Abbey. The place offered interesting compositions, and the light made it all the more worthwhile. Squared up with custom rotation; minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.