Only me.
by willem

Comment by Shannon:
Love the fog sitting on the water...really adds to this shot.

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by willem

Comment by pinback:
Hi Willem. Great picture - the blue tone works very well. Thamks for the detailed explanation of how you did it, too. This is a very professional looking shot.

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by willem

Comment by dsidwell:
Focus and clarity are so nice here. Congratulations!

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by willem

Comment by quadangle:
Being a product photographer myself, I really appreciate this kind of work. Some people might call us anal, but what we really are is "visual mathematicians".

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by willem

Comment by willem:
Absolutely Magnetic9999, you should not be lazy if you want to make something like this....

Just a few additional explanatory notes how I go about in making such a picture, just to inspire people that with some extra effort you can get at least results which are technically good. At least the technical aspects then don't get in the way of the voting, it is "just" the idea, the appeal and impact that you need to concentrate on :

I did make this setup and moved the lighting around with the camera switched on but without making a picture. Then I moved the tools around to get a good composition, constantly looking in the viewfinder. I took a number of shots and loaded them on the PC to check the histogram for exposure. I determined the right exposure to get as much highlighst as possible without overexposing (this ensures minimum noise). Then a number of shots, at different apertures and focus distances, to check the sharpness and depth of field (using manual focus). As result I then had the exposure, focus and depth of field I wanted and an o.k. picture.

Then I looked at the scene again and reconsidered the composition. In this case I repeated the whole process above with a lower camera angle since I thought I could get some more impact with a lower angle of view. And only then I had the final picture ready for post processing.
Total took about 25 pictures and 3 hours of work.

Message edited by author 2003-09-05 02:06:19.

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by willem

Comment by magnetic9999:
great work, willem. i thought of doing the light table approach as well but was too lazy ;D ..

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by willem

Comment by willem:

Originally posted by K-Rob: Congrats, this was one of my favorites. By the way...did you notice what the average vote was for people with no camera??? A PERFECT 10! Also, thanks for giving us the set up details.

Thanks, it ended up higher then expected. I had expected it still needed some more "WOW" factor to get a ribbon. Looking at the comments quite a number of people recognised the thinking and effort that went into the lighting setup and appreciated the results. I enjoy doing those kind of product shots which require careful arrangement and also feel myself this was a well succeeded shot.

On your comment about the avg for people with no camera and looking at the way it influenced the overall average : my conclusion is that it was only 1 person without camera providing this vote. Still nice to get such appreciation though.

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by willem

Comment by K-Rob:
Congrats, this was one of my favorites. By the way...did you notice what the average vote was for people with no camera??? A PERFECT 10! Also, thanks for giving us the set up details.

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by willem

Comment by sher:
great shot...i love the 3D effect. congrats!

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by willem

Comment by C-Fox:
nice job with lighting