'08 Subject Assignment - KITCHEN UTENSILS - Due July 25th

kundalini · Jul 26, 2008

I often wondered if Penguins employed the Monica Seles approach to handling kitchen utensils when preparing dinner.

(...and there's more penguins in the background. You really should seek the services of a professional to remove those pesky varmits from your home. I understand they breed like ........... well, like penguins.)

Antarctican · Jul 26, 2008

^^^ Heh heh, I wondered if anyone would spot the ones in the background! [That's a cookie jar on the left of the utensil holder, and a teapot on the right.] Oooo, that reminds me of some other penguin utensils i have... an ice cream scoop, and those little spatulas for spreading dips.

Big Bully · Jul 26, 2008

Ok so do you have a pet penguin yet? Because I swear when you do get one, we seriously need to get you some help.. lol

MissMia · Jul 27, 2008

Antarctican said:

LOVE IT!!!! It is the perfect addition to this thread! :mrgreen:

johngpt · Jul 27, 2008

Here's an experiment that didn't quite work out.

First, f/4 aperture wasn't quite narrow enough to get all the utensils I wanted in focus. Yet, it was too narrow for trying to keep the glass door from looking so bad. Several different layers in photoshop with various healing/cloning and blur filters can only help so much. In the future, I'll try keeping the objects further from the door.

Then, the darker background beyond the door in the backyard bisects the image horizontally. If possible, not have that at all, or at least not at the vertical half.

So, I've learned that this location isn't the best for trying a silhouette-like style, if the subject can't be positioned more optimally.

johngpt · Jul 27, 2008

Here's the last attempt to save it.

Threshold adjustment layer above all the other layers.

One more example that regardless of photoshop, if I don't get it right in camera, it's unlikely to come out well.

This technique would work better if there weren't so many utensils, blobbing up the mid-section.

Chalk this up as a learning experience.

johngpt · Jul 27, 2008

I was a good boy, got all my chores done, so I could have another go at shooting these darn utensils.

This is almost straight out of the camera in terms of its crop. Just a wee bit off the top to eradicate an uneven dark line that remained after the couple threshold adjustment layers.

I liked its crop, but thought that the large amount of white space in the upper portion of the image is not contributing. Unless of course the image would later be used as a background for text of some sort. So I cropped it to this.

But, as I look at both, I still like the first one better. Somehow the location of the cup and utensils in the frame is more pleasing to me, despite the 'dead space' above. What do others think?

Okay, I think this about does it for me with the attempts at a silhouette via threshold adjustment layers.

But you're still not safe from my attempts at shooting the shadows of utensils!

"Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of utensils?"

"The Shadow knows!"

(old radio series)

Antarctican · Jul 27, 2008

I prefer the first one too. I think it's because there's more of the cup showing below the handle. Although the second shot 'fills the frame' more, I prefer the more elongated look of the cup in the first shot. And I love the silhouette effect you went for!

johngpt · Jul 30, 2008

Antarctican said:
I prefer the first one too. I think it's because there's more of the cup showing below the handle. Although the second shot 'fills the frame' more, I prefer the more elongated look of the cup in the first shot. And I love the silhouette effect you went for!

Thank you. And after looking through three pages of the TPF meet up at Corinna's, I know your name is Jeanne. Which is spelled just as my sister Jeanne spells hers! Gotta get back to that thread. You guys look like you had such a great time.

And of course, I was back in that drat kitchen for another go at those utensils.

This time I violated the oven.

Antarctican · Jul 31, 2008

^^^ Nice one! Way to, errrm, 'think outside the box'. I like the play of light and shadows.

We did indeed have an amazing time at the Germany meetup! If you ever get the chance to attend a meetup of TPF people, I urge you to do so, be it local or one of the big international ones.

(Does your sister pronounce her name like 'gene', or 'genie'?)