Alien Flowers and Warlock Gimlet for C&C

AgentDrex

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Bemidji, Minnesota, USA
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My birthday was on the 18th this month and so while drinking some vodka gimlets late at night by myself, I decided to see what using a long exposure in the dead of night and the light from an app on my Droid Eris called "Color Flashlight" would produce.

#1
First I decided to go outside behind my house and take some photos of some flowers. I placed the light just outside of frame underneath the plant and this is what I got:

Alien Flowers
AlienFlowers.jpg


#2
After the "flower incident", I decided to go in and finish my gimlet when I had an idea to put the glass of vodka, sprite and lime juice on top of my hundred dollar phone (yeah, I'm an idiot), turn the flashlight app back on, changed the color to green, and pulled up the menu (which is white) for some highlight effect...this is what I get:

The Warlock Gimlet
WarlockGimlet.jpg
 
Welcome to TPF Skyclad! I hope you're open to learning like you say, this place is like a free college in a way. 100-level classes all the way up pretty much. Thanks for commenting, I don't drink much so I was buzzed up something awful when I took these. Would you like to take at a stab at critiquing this as well? When critiquing photos as a "newb", if you're kind about it, you can usually get away with stating what you don't like and a why. Once you develop your "visual eye", you'll be able to add what you think may improve the shot. Nice to meet you, have fun!
 
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Thanks for the welcome! I am definitely open to learning as I believe its a prerequisite to anything you want to get into on any level. I hope people will go easy on me once I post pictures here. I'm not opposed to criticizism at all, I just hope they wont be too crass because I am a total and complete beginner with a $125 camera (which was the best I could get within my budget, sadly).

With that said, im not sure if its my place to critique on photos yet as I haven't developed my visual eye. I've barely read about ISO, Apeuture and rule of thirds, but have to wait about 3 or more days till my camera arrives and I can pratice those pratices. Right now, im just looking at the posted photos and reading the critiques on this forum to kinda gain an idea of how to go about composition for when I start taking my amateure pictures. So far, its mentally preparing me of what I should or shouldnt do and what to look for (or lookout for) when I start snapping away.

If anything on your photos;

#1: I would have gotten more of the flowers on the right in frame, but I think that goes without saying as its obvious. But hey, you were buzzed, lol. Still quite a nice picture for having been taken while buzzed. Though, if I may take a blind stab at this. Maybe a ISO of one step lower would have brought the sharpness up a little, smoothing out the slight grain in the background?

#2: I think if you would have added a cube or two of ice into the drink and if possible, pour a little into a shot glass to set right beside the taller glass would give the eye more interest?

Those are just my amateur ideas anyways. Maybe im just talking out of my ass since I dont really know anything enough about photography.

All I can hope for right now, is that I am able to take equally as good of pictures (sober) once my camera arrives.

By all means, tell me if my ideas are completely wrong as they are mostly guess work from what very little I know right now.

(ETA: Happy Belated Birthday!)
 
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1) i like the green glow
2) would like better if you framed the subject to the right. and crop the bottom
 
Skyclad:

Thank you for the critiques. On #1 you stated I may have used a lower iso however iso100 is the lowest my A3000IS will go...luckily those flowers are right in the back of my apartment so I will take another stab at this shot and get some more of that flower on the right into the frame.
I LOVE the idea you gave about adding the ice...for the photo I will add the ice, I generally don't add ice to my vodka, alcohol tends to melt ice which in turn waters down the vodka, but obviously this was a drink with Sprite and lime juice and so I guess I already watered down the UV 103 (not bad for Phillips but is still a horrible vodka) I was drinking. Also the shot glass is another great idea...I only have one shot glass but it happens to be a tall one with the name of my hometown on it. That might be cool to get Bemidji's name out there a little, does it hurt to do that? You may not know at this point the technical aspects of photography, but a lover of art and photos doesn't need to know the iso, aperture, shutter speed, etc. to appreciate photos and be able to tell what they do and don't like. Your critique seemed to spot on and Bob's your uncle (gotta love the UK and their awesome ways of saying things!).

dak1b:

Are you saying for #2 I should have the glass on the right side of the shot when you say frame the subject to the right?

I think for this version of the "Warlock Gimlet" I will write a poem and add it to the dead spaces. I'll have that up in sometime this week.

Thank you for your insights and I hope that I can continue improving while here at the TPF. If anyone wishes, look through some of my old threads I started and see those photos and compare them to now. I look through the old ones and am quite embarrassed that I posted them, however had I not done so, I would have never heard all the mistakes I was making and most likely would still be making them.

Side note: This has nothing to do with the photos, but just wanted to state that I am an amateur vodka connoisseur, I was drinking UV simply because it was within my budget at the time. I had enough left over to get the sprite and lime juice and then I was broke. My favorite vodka is actually another cheapy, 42 Below from New Zealand. Best vodka ever made! I have a (empty) 2009 bottle of Jewel of Russia Ultra (20,000 sold each year world-wide, so kind of rare) and the rest of my bottle collection consists of 2 bottles each: Chopin, Van Gogh, Grey Goose, Effen, etc. Actually, I'm going to take a photo of the collection this weekend. That'll make for an interesting post I'm sure.
 
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#1, crop out the flower group to the right as they add nothing positive to the pic.

#2, this shot would be improved by centering the subject - a rule breaker.
 
Ron:

Thank you! I do love to break rules when I can. I will do a crop of just the main flower and see how that looks. I very much appreciate your words of wisdom. You are, after all, a TPF Junkie!
 
I too am new so I have no professional advice but I can tell you from where I sit you have one of the most important aspect.. thats creativity and a will to shot more than the norm.. might have been a simple color light but it really added.. the glass is boring but could be exciting with the right placement

cheers.
 
#2, this shot would be improved by centering the subject - a rule breaker.

the glass is boring but could be exciting with the right placement



This is why I suggested a shot glass would have been good to add. I think it would have complimented the taller glass and made it look less isolated and solitary.

As for adding the ice.. The ice could have just been in the glass for the shot, then tossed in the sink as to not water down your drink. It would just be something to add a little texture to the green glow :)


And with your ISO being set at its lowest. It didn't hit me till later on that you may have been at your lowest setting when taking the picture, so I'll have to take that comment back. :blushing:
 
Very inventive! I love the glow on the flower stems
 
Ooh, I can't wait 'til this weekend so I can do another shot of that glass with the shot glass next to it...and the ice for texture idea is so brilliant, it would be a crime for me not to try it out, thank you again for the insights, suggestions and feedback. Thank you for the education as well, I don't want to spend money on college courses as I have no desire to become "professional", just want to remain a simple hobbyist.
 
Here's a cropped version of "Alien Flowers":

AlienFlowers2.jpg


Yes, it is post-processed...my blur effect and a high-pass filter effect...
 
The crop looks better.


A proper Gimlet has no Sprite in it.
 
Yes, a proper Sprite has no vodka in it...or wait...no toss that around...a vodka Drexlet has Sprite in it...how DOES one go about making a proper vodka gimlet? I'm not much for gin...
I figured Sprite would work as it is a clear soda with lime in it and so thats what I use...

Side Note:
Quick Recipe for a "Screwed-up":
Same as a Screwdriver (vodka to strength, top with OJ) except you also add 7up
 

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