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Scotch, .44 Magnum, cigars...
Comments!
23rd-May-2009 10:58 am (local)
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That's quite a good composition!
You've got good control of the background. The combination of angle and surface make for a pleasingly neutral backdrop. You've also got good lighting (I'm glad to see it's not just flat direct flash. Were you intentionally using a reflector, or is this just a case of lucky "atmospheric bounce"?). The light isn't glaring harshly off any of your reflective surfaces, and it's showing good dimensionality on the curved objects. I especially like the nice broad highlight on the .44. Quite well achieved, including the glowing end of the cigar. I'm guessing that took more effort than is apparent at first glance. My eyes go right to your subjects, they're well focused and exposed, and your composition has pleasing balance. --- I think there are a few things you could do to take this shot from good to excellent. The first thing I notice is that the ashtray being on top of the gloves feels artificial and sort of awkward. It's good from an artistic balance viewpoint, but to me at least it screams "we were posed like this". Somewhere there has to be a composition that combines the good balance of this shot with a more natural feel in the placement of the gloves. I'm having a little difficulty with the separation of the scotch glass from the background. Something (shorter Depth of Field, higher contrast in color or brightness, put the glass on a coaster or other contrasting background) should help that glass stand out from the background more. One thing that occurs to me that might really help this shot stand out, and would also be a fun project, would be to use a "light painting" technique. If you've got a good stable surface for the camera (or a tripod), you can set it for a long exposure (between 8 and 20 seconds) and a relatively narrow aperture (between f/11 and f/16 probably). Set up your camera and composition (and probably take a few shots with the flash to get things set up right). Then turn out the lights and turn off the flash. Trigger the camera for its long exposure, grab a flashlight and "paint" your subject with it. To get a pleasing effect will take some trial and error, but the results can be very interesting. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blepere/22 http://www.flickr.com/photos/blepere/30 http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalanharri for some quick examples. I think the technique could produce the sort of separation from the background that you need, would show off the curved surfaces with broad highlights, and might allow the end of the cigar to be more noticeably self-illuminated. The latest thing that came to mind while considering your photo was the background itself. It's a good color and is pleasingly neutral. But what about a natural leather jacket, or an American Indian blanket, or ... something with a bit more texture to it. If you were horse people I'd say put a tooled leather saddle in the background. | |
23rd-May-2009 11:20 am (local)
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The lighting was the overhead on the back porch. No flash at all. I put the subjects under the light and took the shot.
The glowing tip on the cigar is blind luck! If I had been trying to get that effect I doubt I could have gotten it. I am thinking something like green felt would have been a better surface to make the drink stand out, but I don't have any. The ashtray on top of the gloves is from "I'll toss them here and take a pic and then pose more" and I liked this shot so much I didn't second guess myself. You are not the first person to notice. Nobody has noticed that the gun is not laying on the table flat! I took it with a little bit of the optical zoom on, I could see how it was changing how things appeared. I think that made it look better than moving closer to get the subject to fill the frame. I had fun with this and I am going to try to take my shots from good to excellent! I can tell from some of your advice that I will have to put the hack into my camera that Marv found. It allows more control of what the camera does, like exposure time. I've been meaning to get a tripod and a real flash, I needed an excuse. | |
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