Thread: The Cormorant Fisherman

A brave man indeed. That's a very challenging project and you deserve all the accolades you can get! I think you have captured the oriental features of the fisherman well. That in itself is a significant achievement. Is the whole thing in one piece? If not, is the bird in hand a separate piece?

Hi Phil, looks great, well executed. What only a broken wing...you did very well ! To minimise perspect distorsion, the best approach would be to increase the distance between the subject and the camera, by using a telephoto lens. Cheers

Hi Whittling.
Yep, the man/bird in hand is one piece. Whilst I agree to some extent I got an 'Asian' feel to his face I am a bit disappointed in the lack of character. I am gradually coming to terms with the miniscule actions needed when carving at this scale but even so I am amazed how a little timber removed makes a massive difference to the expression. As far as brave man goes, I have decided if I am going anywhere with this carving lark I need to push what I feel safe doing all the time.

Excellent work!

Claude

Wonderful stuff.

I'm not sure what perspective issue you are talking about but if it's the big head-small feet thing then I usually cure that in Photoshop. I expect the free software alternatives offer the same facility.

Arron: does Photoshop do wood carving?

It looks a very good carving.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Arron: does Photoshop do wood carving?

Haha, that's funny. Some of the 'perspective' issues are photographic. Of course some of the issues are in the carving. Typically I find these occur when I get absorb in a detail and forget that it is critical to be thinking in terms of the whole piece from all angles at all times.

Out- Blooming- Standing, work !. It really reminds me of those antique Chinese carvings you see made in ivory.
Whats the timber Phil?
Cameras do tend to distort things. That's why people have 2 eyes not one.....Hmmm double lense camera?, havent seen one of those yet.

[QUOTE=artful bodger;1922676]Out- Blooming- Standing, work !. It really reminds me of those antique Chinese carvings you see made in ivory.
Whats the timber Phil?
Hi Brad, funny you should mention the ivory carving. This was the starting point.

d2be2e313eb9927553bfdca8f8eb719b.jpg

The timber is Huon pine, oregon base.

Is that a picture from a book or do you have the actual carving Phil?
My elderly Mum has got an actual Ivory carving that is similar but no birds in it. It's an old bloke with a fishing rod and a fish in his hand with a young boy watching on.
Anyway, well done you have nailed the "olde worlde" Chinese style.

Internet image.

I actually wrote in praise of this yesterday bt must have hit the wrong button and hence the post rid not lodge.

Beautiful work!!!

Try as GoGuppy (#3) suggests = back off and come in with more telephoto.

Stereo/3D experiment. As we commonly read from left to right, take pic #1 and define that as the left hand image. Now move 10-15 cm to the right and take pic #2.
If you can display them side by side on your monitor, use a piece of cardboard up the middle so your eyes can see only their respective images.

I used to do large format landscape photography for visual quality objectives, before and after logging, green-up blocks and so on.
There's a formula to plug in the distance and you get the needed separation between images to read prints with a typical aerial photography
stereoscopic viewer. Had to work very quickly as the trees don't move but the changing images of the moving clouds is really disconcerting.

Out of a photography textbook which I have not seen in 15 years. I'll try to find a reference