Homegrocer.com was one of the last big IPOs before all the venture capital dried up for the .coms in 1999.
I wanted to try an all black background and this seemed like a good play on a black "negative space" challenge.
I won this mug at a morale event (I worked for Homegrocer.com) at the very beginning of the .com crash. It turned into a dark time for a lot of people since the .com carnage of 1999-2000 left many in the Seattle area unemployed and fighting for jobs at more stable companies like Adobe, Real Networks, Starbucks and Microsoft.
I used several pieces of dark paper on a night stand and a black blanket in the background. I used one 100 watt bulb that I held behind the camera and aimed at the cup. I used the 3 second timer and a tripod to avoid camera shake. I also used the tungsten lighting white balance correction, spot metering and Noise Reduction.
In Photoshop I adjusted colors, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and added a border.
I shot about 100 pictures trying to figure out how to do this relatively well. It was a good challenge to help me get to know my camera.
I'm not sure it's better with the border but it seems less flat and I'd never done a border before.
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Excellent use of thirds and negative space IMHO. And if you do want to learn your camera in a hurry, then definitely do what you did here...shoot, and shoot a lot, until you get what you want.
Other useful stuff for backdrops: bristol board is dirt cheap, comes in large sheets and can be rolled up when not in use. I've also used a black towel draped over a doorway for a terrific, non-reflective bg. You're doing well, keep shooting!
I'm not exactly sure what function the neg space accomplishes here, but I like it and it does give the feeling that there is more to HomeGrocer.com than meets the eye. I think you've achieved perfect balance here. This would make a good ad for HomeGrocer.com.
I am guessing that HomeGrocer.com did not earn profits or something like that... but with dpc, people are from everywhere and perhaps not every1 will 'get it'. [I certainly don't.] If you see what I mean. But this is only for future reference as I think that this was a brilliant shot whether I 'get it' or not. =)
This is lovely, makes me want to pour hot tea in it - come to think of it this would be a killer shot if something was being poured [10] - Oops! not a member cant vote :(
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