Title

Blue-and-White Porcelain: Variable Condition Front View

Type

Digital image

Subject

Blue-and-white porcelain

Variable condition

Front view

Diffused lighting

Bounce lighting

Reflection control

Pattern visibility

Colour stability

Object-background separation

2D digitisation

Creator

Wook Kim

Date

2026

Technical Requirement

Image role: variable condition image.

View type: front view.

Lighting type: diffused lighting with ceiling bounce lighting.

Light distance: approximately 1 m from the object on the left and right sides.

Incident method: diffused light and indirect light reflected from the ceiling.

Auxiliary device: diffuser and ceiling reflective surface.

Camera setting: ISO 100 / f/11 / 1/125s / 50mm.

File generation: RAW-derived cropped JPEG image.

Colour profile: sRGB.

Depicted Object

Blue-and-White Porcelain Object

Comparison Image

Blue-and-White Porcelain: Control Condition Front View

Rights

Image and record by Wook Kim.

Reproduction Note

Photographic intention: This image was produced to reduce the strong reflections that obscured or weakened the blue decoration and to record its boundaries and colour information more consistently. It also aimed to improve the visual separation between the bright white porcelain body and the similarly bright background.

Problem recognition: In the control condition image, direct bilateral softbox lighting and high illumination produced strong highlights on the glazed surface. These highlights overlapped parts of the blue decoration, made some motifs appear blurred, and caused the cobalt-blue pigment to appear brighter than expected. The similar brightness of the white porcelain body and background also weakened the visibility of the object’s outline.

Adjustment process: A diffuser was used to soften and spread the light before it reached the object. The frontal light was then redirected toward the ceiling to create bounce lighting and reduce direct illumination on the glazed surface. The adjustment was intended to reduce local highlights without simply darkening the entire image.

Visual observation: In the variable condition image, strong highlights on the glazed surface are reduced. The boundaries and brushwork of the blue decoration appear clearer, the cobalt-blue colour is represented more consistently, and the outline of the porcelain body is more clearly separated from the background.

Interpretive significance: The comparison demonstrates that pattern visibility, colour stability, and boundary recognition depend on the structure and incident method of the lighting. Recording the use of diffusion and ceiling bounce lighting as paradata makes it possible to explain that the visual differences result from photographic conditions rather than from changes in the ceramic object itself.