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Photography of Shiny Bronze Sculpture – Beautiful Dreamer
January 16th, 2012 | Posted in Photography tips | 
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Photography of Shiny Bronze Sculpture – Beautiful Dreamer
Taking photos of shiny surfaces can pose problems in photography. Sometimes what I’ve done is to take pictures of a sculpture in a light tent. A light tent is somewhat like a box made of a white bed sheet. Lighting of the sculpture is then done from outside the tent and soft light fills the tent.
With the Beautiful Dreamer sculpture I wanted her to have ……..
rich dark shadowing in the crevices of her dress. A light tent would have softened and lightened the shadows on her.
Instead of using the tent I did a trick that I figured out and works very well, I applied wax to her skin and let a haze develop without polishing her skin. This made her skin a soft satin color rather than glossy shiny. Then I rubbed and polished back ares that I did want shiny, for some glitz, such as her eyelashes and her lips. Anywhere that I wanted sparkle, I polished.
Beautiful Dreamer
When a strong sidelight was cast onto her, it filled the shadows with deep dark color, and her skin didn’t have flashback from the light because it was a soft waxed hazy satin with little reflective quality.
Closeup of feet and ruffles.
Closeup of hand holding photo.
Closeup of shiny bronze skin that has been muted with wax.
Closeup of diamond pattern and embroidery on chaise lounge.
Edit: Here are a few more pics, this time these are blurry snapshots, but they show the contrast of using wax versus not. The lighting wasn’t changed on either photo. (Now of course, the bronze was waxed at the foundry and polished, but I’m speaking of waxing her again and allowing that to dull. The first photo shows polished foundry wax.)
Before applying wax she is very shiny- you can see flashback.
After wax was applied and not polished- shows little flashback from lighting.
Thanks for watching and hope this photography tip helps your shiny sculptures to photograph well!
~Tamara
12 Responses to “Photography of Shiny Bronze Sculpture – Beautiful Dreamer”
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What a good idea to put some wax on the shiny parts! I never thought of that. Thanks for the tip!
What a difference! it is beautiful.
Thanks Lynda and Angie. I use the wax tip a lot when taking photographs. Sometimes I just add the wax on a shiny spot (not the entire sculpture) on the shoulder or wherever I don’t want a flashback.
juste superbe, joli travail!!!!
So much detail, really put lots of effort in a piece of artwork.
Ah, thank you Daniel (and thanks Girod too) for your comments. I did try really hard on her, more than any other sculpture I’ve made.
I can see you tried very hard… I can appreciate the work that went into this piece! It’s very beautiful… I now want to do a bronze more than ever!
very inspiring! 
Once you do a bronze, you’ll be hooked on that too! It is so cool to see your work in metal!
How can I afford it? Estimate 700 for a mold and 800 to cast…basic. Not trivial. I see you are doing your own molds… I bought some stuff to play with, not too sure where to start. I have watched some video’s online by different companies… My teacher uses a foundry in Mexico… Cheaper than in the states… I would like to make contacts with foundry experience to help me come up to speed on the subject.
Here’s my main mold tutorial: http://tamarabonet.com/blog/2009/07/24/sculpture-mold-tutorial-of-wealth-sculpture/#more-326
Bronze casting is very expensive. My advice- wait until you have fine tuned your skills- your bronze will be with you a long time and later, you’ll be surprised how you will look at your early work, notice many things you’d improve on and it’ll bug you!
Good idea- Learn mold making on something simple, can pour a plaster (Forton MG or Hydrocal White for strength and not toxic) cast or use Aqua Resin (not toxic) cast. Finish with Ron Young patinas for a faux bronze.
You’ll find your way to the bronze but it’s best to hone your sculpting skills for a while IMHO.
Beautiful work!
Hi Tamara, how are you doing ?? I think about you here and there. I am not traveling to the US right now, because on political reasons. Please send me a mail. All the best, Impala