Still Life

[reval8r]

Thought I would post a few still life images I done today and was looking for some cc.

1. http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/seashell.jpg

This still life was to recreate a beach scene. The shells we collected on Grand Caymen Island. The sand is simple pool sand. There is one light 90 degrees to the left and a white reflector 90 degrees to the right.

2. http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/white%20wine.jpg

This image is using two lights on translucent white plexiglass. One light is directly under the table shooting up and is 1/2 stop lower than the light which is straight behind the image. I wanted the lights to be of different strengths and to allow for a small place in the image to get darker where the objects would not appear to be floating. I found out the plexiglass is really to thin for this much weight. I spend over an hour trying to keep items up straight, but the always leaned to the middle.

3. http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/On%20the%20Rocks.jpg

This image is the hardest set-up of the group. There is one light with 7 inch reflector under the table shooting straight up. It's angled to let white backdrop go dark. There is another light over the glass shot through a softbox about 1/2 stop lower than the light under the glass. A piece of foil was shaped and placed behind the glass to fill in the ice and give some sparkle in the reflection. The whiskey was cut with water to give it more translucence.

4. http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/tonic%20and%20cherry.jpg

A glass of club soda with a cherry. Only one light coming up from below and angle to make the background go black right behind the glass.

Thanks for looking and any comments.

[janine]

these are amazing - i love the whiskey shot and the soda water shot!!!

[jerryph]

These photos all show a lot of thought and preparation. I'll add a couple of comments, if I may? Keep in mind that because all are so good, I am nit-picking.

#1 - The arrangement doesn't look natural, top left starfish leg is cut off, bottom right object is distracting. DOF seems inconsistent from top to bottom of picture because the focus point hit the top of the conch shell.

#2 - My fav of the bunch! It is very well lit, but the smallest blemish is that there is a 3rd light, your camera flash, that breaks the continuity of the lovely lighting flow on the bottle like a line from top to bottom, particularly evident on the top of the neck. A small tissue paper or ingeniously bent piece of foil paper could have removed this tiny point.

#3 - Nice! I would have cropped it so that it was lightly off center and increased the aperture so that the compelte glass was sharp from front to back, yet still lightly blurring the background.

#4 - Lots of detail, tons to look at and also excellent. Your goal was to make the background black, that did not quite happen as you have 3 very distinct layers of lighting there. Is the maximum sync speed of your Pentax 1/180th? If it was 1/250th the background would have been a little darker as well as increase light intensity. To assist both the darkening of the background and that relatively narrow DOF (the ice cubes start to fade into bokeh as they fall behind the glass), is close down the shutter to something like F/8 or smaller (numerically higher).

In the end, these are all really good, and I can tell that someone has been visiting the strobist site for a ton of good info as the results are very nicely shown here.

Well done!

[reval8r]

Thanks for the comments, cc and suggestions. It really helps me to develop as a better photographer.

I see what you're taking about with #4. It's a botched job in PS. I tried to burn in the ice for more detail. Now when I move the image to different parts of the monitor I can see the burn on the background making the 3 different layers in the background. Thanks for catching that Jerry.

Actually Jerry, my websites for inspiration are Photo Camel and Paul C. Buff forums.

[coffee]

These are great. Wonderfull work. I guess the only other thing I would add is the placing of the cork. I think it would have been a better composition if the cork was moved a little farther right, but still in front of the glass base like you have it. Not quite in the bottles shadow, but between the glass base and the bottle, so that it overlaps both a little, and at an angle somewhat so it wasn't straight with the bottom edge of the photo. Good work, thanks for sharing.

[reval8r]

I think your right Coffee, it would have been a better placement. That's why I like cc so much. Others often see you what I miss or the bring ideas that I never would have thought of.

I really like posting on this forum because your images aren't belittled, you're given help advise and comments. It's a small group of budding photographers trying to helping each other get better.

Thanks for the comments, ideas and suggestions from all of you.

[coffee]

I just got done looking over your website. It is very professional with wonderful portraits. Did you do all of those Larry? Do you do this for a living?

[jerryph]

Larry's website does show that he is a professional, however, I am very glad that he is here with us. I enjoy exchanging with people that enjoy photography just for the sheer pleasure and fun in it... pro or not. :D

[reval8r]

Thanks for the nice words and compliments guys. I'm more of a want-to-be professional. I’m shooting a few paying jobs per month, but it’s not my main source of income. I am working towards being a full-time professional, but my real job is keeping me from having the time to really market myself. The old catch 22, give up the real job and the security of a steady income or quite the real job and take the risk.

Also, I’m not where I would like my skills to be to work as a full-time professional. I took up photography a year ago after 22 years of taking no pictures. I worked as a studio assistant about 25 years ago, mostly in the darkroom processing film and printing. I enjoyed the darkroom back then more than actually shooting pictures. I was sort of like Ansel Adams; I would work forever on one image trying to get the perfect print.

I took the Proud Course mostly for a refresher and cc for images. I also enjoy having a place to share with other photographers and students, meet new friends, a support base and have other creative people to bounce ideas off of. The forum here is small, but very friendly. And hopefully, I can help and spark someone’s creativity and help others become better photographers too.

[LensBaby]

WOW amazing shots. I really like the whiskey shot. I also like Paul C Buff forums better than any others. Have you noticed some of the work on there? WOW amazing.

[reval8r]

Thanks compliments LensBaby. Paul's forum does have some really good images and a nice source for inspiration. Photo Camel has lots of people that have some amazing images and some real eye candy, but cc Photo Camel has gotten brutally nasty lately. The people on this forum are the friendliest and why I like it so much.

[perfectoarts]

Fantastic shots. I simply love both the glass shots. Must try that myself one day. Keep on snapping :)

[reval8r]

Fantastic shots. I simply love both the glass shots. Must try that myself one day. Keep on snapping :)

I would love to see you do some work with glass and liquids Ingrid. Your work has very artistic elements, much like the classic painters use which would make for some truly awesome images.

[mercy]

nice photos


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blog (http://www.arcurs.com/)

[martha]

Wonderful still life shots Larry, an area I have yet to learn. I would find it difficult to pick a favourite.

cheers Martha