My wife owns two amazing glass unicorns from a trip to Murano, Italy. She saw this one getting made and, yes, it really is just the size of a couple of US dimes! (For those of you not familiar with US coins, a dime is 17mm across). Those little legs are so fantastically thin that it seems like some magic must have been involved in making it (hmmm, unicorns...). Here is the other one.
The setup is just what you see, the unicorn is balanced on its tail and the dime is balanced against the front leg. The lighting is two flashes, one straight down and the other bounced of a white reflector to the left. A slight bump in contrast and NoiseNinja (including sharpening) was the only postprocessing.
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Hello Magnus, from the Critique Club.
This is an instructive critique for me, because I normally have no interest in 'studio' photographs, especially of inanimate subjects such as this. So, I've learned quite a bit as a result of being forced to take a more measured look. The quality of your photography is superb, especially as the lighting setup you describe is relatively simple. The subject(s) are beautifully lit for maximum impact, and I'm sure the unicorn was a difficult little critter to light effectively. The shadow is also terrific. I cannot agree with the commentator who suggested cropping differently; your composition/crop seems to me entirely appropriate ... it complements the fragility and elegance of this little work of art, and is therefore nicely chosen for the 'Delicate' theme. So, while it's not my cup of tea, but I do recognise the technical skill involved in your creating this image. The other attraction of this photograph for me was that it led me to your portfolio, which contains a delightfully eclectic collection of very fine photographs. I hope these few comments may lead others there as well.
Best wishes,
Paul Martin
wait - now it says I have not rated this?? Where is my comment from before??
Well... the gist of it was... "This is amazing fabulous....I know I'm biased, but the lighting, composition, detail, concept, fit to challenge couldn't be better! I particularly like the space above the subject emphasizing the small size, and the glossiness of the surface emphasizing the smoothness and fragility of the glass."
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