I have learnt three things on this little project:
- Etching glass with Armour Etch through a vinyl stencil that I cut on my Silhouette Cameo is quick, simple and delightfully effective. This inexpensive Ikea glass is now carrying the branding that I use for my studio.
- Photographing glass, like mirrors, is incredibly tricky! I spent roughly 15 minutes etching the glass, and then the next hour learning how to take the photograph! I ended up lighting it from beneath with a small LED push-light with a sheet of paper between it and the glass to dim it slightly. All of this was in a blackout tent, with a small amount of light from above, and poking my phone through a small slit in the tent. The first attempts had so much reflection of both the lighting and the surroundings, the etching wasn’t visible.
- Cleaning the glass digitally was so much more effective than in real life. I’d done my best using alcohol and non-shedding cloths, but the pesky dust specks really showed up despite my best efforts. The Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop really came to the fore to remove them. Though not perfect, I think as a bit of amateur product photography I can get away with it 😉
All that’s left to do is the rest of my glasses!
Looks very professional to me. Well done, will these be used in the studio?
Of course 🙂
Neil, this is brilliant. Very cool and effective. What value on the glass now lol!! You can come and digitally clean all the glasses, windows, mirrors etc. in my house! I know what you mean about a project taking a much shorter time to make than photographing it – I have experienced this with videoing projects, as the editing takes far longer than making the project. I think it’s called Suffering for our Art lol!
The photograph is beautiful. The glass appears to float, glowing softly in the darkness. The photo is a work of art in itself.
Shoshi