SC01
NEW Photographic Lighting Principles for Glass Objects
Instructors: Andrew Fortune and Bryan H. Buchanan, The Corning Museum of Glass
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 4 hours
Prerequisites: basic studio photography skills
Course Time: 08:00 – 12:15
Benefits
This course enables the attendee to:
- Understand how to create a controlled lighting environment to best capture glass objects.
- Understand glass properties of reflection, refraction, and transmission, and how to work with them rather than against them.
- Apply lighting principles for glass in both intensive, publication quality and general collections photography.
- Be comfortable working in a studio environment where standards based on 2D reflective art do not apply.
Course Description
Lighting glass objects for photography requires creating a carefully lit environment and capturing how the object interacts with it. This is because the way we perceive glass is the result of how the glass itself transmits, refracts, reflects, and distorts light. Unlike other materials, it is not possible to fully separate our perception of the glass itself from our perception of what the glass reveals about its surroundings. As museum photographers, we are trained to photograph objects on flat, neutral backgrounds, and yet that approach creates incredible challenges when photographing glass. In this course, we present lighting setup examples and discuss approaches used at The Corning Museum of Glass, with the emphasis on in-camera solutions vs. post-capture imaging.
Intended Audience: Students should have some basic experience photographing artwork and cultural heritage materials.
Andrew Fortune is manager of the Collections Photography Department at The Corning Museum of Glass. Fortune joined the museum in 1996 as a preparator and photography assistant and, after becoming hooked on the challenges of photographing glass, he subsequently held the positions of assistant photographer, photographer, and photographer/digital imaging supervisor before assuming his current position in 2015. Before coming to the museum, Fortune was preparator at The Rockwell Museum, and curatorial assistant at the Goldie Paley and Levy Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design. He holds a BA in Art History and Psychology from Swarthmore College.
Bryan H. Buchanan cultivated an interest in glass imaging while working in the fine and decorative arts division of a national auction house. After relocating to Corning, New York, he joined the collections department of Corning Museum of Glass.
Category
2. Short Courses
Track
Specialty Imaging: Lighting
When
4/9/2024 8:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Eastern Daylight Time