Scorpion 240657 240656 240658 237083

10/05/2005 10:10:56 AM · #1

Ok. So I keep telling myself that the votes aren't important and the real benefit from this challenge is what I can learn from it. Well. Here it is. I chose:

For my Beverages submission. I was quite surprised at my results and a little disturbed that it got so many 1's and 2's compared to my pathetic test entry in branches. I liked it because I felt the colours really brought out the idea of Combinations and gave it a really bold look on a fairly strong, albeit bland topic. On the other hand, it appears as though the decision was a bad one and after reviewing it with a few of my friends here, I think I have learned my lesson.

That having been said, I now want to learn more lessons. I want to know which of the following pics you feel I should have submitted and why. Perhaps if you mentioned what vote you felt you would have given it or what vote it probably would have gotten, it might help build my self-confidence up a tiny bit too. :)

Thanks for whatever time you can give me to help me learn.

PS. Yeah I know about the camera reflection. This was my first "studio" type set up and I did it all with trial and error.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/05/2005 10:15:34 AM · #2

Aw crap. If there is an SC member that could please remove the numbers from the title that I used as a temp scratchpad.

While you are at it, if you could remove this message too, thanks!

Sorry, seems like this isn't my week for not doing dumb things :)

coley3

10/05/2005 10:34:53 AM · #3

I do like the other ones more than that submitted. I'm just not a huge fan of the effects. I'd give one of the other ones...like ah.... 6 maybe. I think the lighting might still be a little harsh but I do like the idea. :)

Bebe

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

10/05/2005 10:35:10 AM · #4

Hi! I have your original entry a 5, since I didn't grainy pinky feel to it. I like the green out of your alternatives, and for me that one really would have let your original, very creative idea shine through. I probably would have given that one a 7 or 8 - the scorpion is grossing me out a little too much to go higher. (BTW, I hope he was already dead?)

Maverick

Nikon D200

Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di for Nikon

10/05/2005 10:38:26 AM · #5

I like the outtake with the green coloring best. Just some suggestions that I can think of: Use a smaller aperture, f/4.0 left the keys a bit blurred. If you have Neat Image or another noise reduction software, that should clean up the image nicely (Neat Image is pretty cheap if you don't have any).

Using sunlight works for this type of image, but I'd try to get even more light on it - I'd prefer to see the background as all white rather than white/gray and textured. This could be done simply by overexposing a bit as well. For the reflections, try using paper or cloth as a diffuser (put it between the subject and the light source). It should at least soften the light more.

hanneke

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/05/2005 10:39:35 AM · #6

I think the outtakes are much better, (I know it's a matter of taste) the oversaturated thingie is just not the thing I like.
I think I'd give a 7 if you posted one of your outtakes :)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

10/05/2005 11:15:57 AM · #7

Thanks again to all. You are helping me build confidence a lot. The green is my favorite as well.

Maverick. Thanks for your specific comments. The camera I use has a really narrow effective aperture range. Things tend to get a lot softer at wider and narrower, so I usually leave aperture at 4.0 (coincidentally, the camera also favors f4.0 as well).

Regarding the background, that was white paper, and I shot this pic at several different angles to the sun, although I was underneath a roof in a covered, semi-open area. I felt that the angle of reflections was more important than getting my background perfect. Also, my background was not very big. The first thing I did after shooting this challenge was to buy a bigger background. I hope this will allow me to get more light and have softer curves. I was also wrestling the wind and time by the time I was getting most of the elements working together right.

After reading up on the effects of bokeh, I would consider putting the other keys behind the main key if I were to reshoot.

I shot with sunlight and tried my best to do something with peices of white cardboard to block the sun and bounce light back in, but this wasn't very successful. My photographer friend told me to shoot with indirect sunlight. My next move, if I had time would have been to put a big white sheet up on the clothesline behind me and between the subject and the sun. I don't actually have a big white sheet in this country though (I sleep, as most others do on a straw mat on wooden slats), so this was a bit of a non-solution. My neighbor did his big white sheet in the laundry a couple of days later. Go Figure!

Is it possible to do overexposure artificially using the brightness and lightness functions in PS? I have PS7 (and I don't know how to use it well yet).

I did actually have a bit of a stab at this with NeatImage, but I wasn't able to get anything satisfactory out of it. This was the second time I ever used NI, (see my TinaKimono pic in my portfolio) so I still have a long way to go to get it to do what I want.

Thanks again. I'd love to hear more comments.

mkalandros

Nikon D50

10/05/2005 10:22:32 PM · #8

I also prefer the outtakes to your entry. I'm a bit torn between the green, which is the most striking of the colors, and the orange, which gives the scorpion a more omninous look.

I feel your pain about the background. I had a sheet behind mine and couldn't get rid of all the wrinkles -- even after I ironed it, the sheet kept trying to bunch up.