"Breakfast" - Coffe&Cigarette (please critiques&comments)

[M Brex]

1.

2.

3.

 

[Moscovite]

Interesting tablecloth... Nice pics!

 

[ShootHoops]

I like the first one the most.

 

[M Brex]

thanks a lot!

 

[Don Simon]

Very nice! The black and white shots definitely serve the subject best.

BTW these remind me of the film of the same name (Coffee and Cigarettes) - great film, as long as you don't mind watching films where nothing really happens

 

[Alex_B]

i like the first one and the last one most.

however, in the first one the crop is too tight. I would not let the cup touch the image border ... also the cigarette is just touching the border on the right hand side. Either give it more space or crop even more, JMHO

oh, and there is some tiny breadcrumb or sand or whatever particle in the first shot right on the table. If it was many, I would say it is part of the composition, but with just one lonely fellow there, my eye instantly gets distracted!
I guess this could easily get PSed out

 

[M Brex]

thanks a lot for these as techniques comments!!!

@alex_b: I can't see the bread... can you help me to see it?

 

[Alex_B]

M_Brex ... strange it really stung my eye.
Well, you can see it just below the saucer where the cast shadow begins (in the lower 10% of the image, vertically where the right third begins).

Not sure, probably it is not bread but sugar. Anyway, it is tiny but in good focus! And it is bright in an otherwise dark surrounding.

 

[M Brex]

aaaaaah, thanks, I've seen it just now... but it's really really small

 

[Alex_B]

aaaaaah, thanks, I've seen it just now... but it's really really small

Well, dead pixels or dust on the sensor is just as small or even smaller... still people complain about it

In otherwise smooth and empty regions of an image this is a spoiler IMHO. And that image gets its power from the strong contrasts and smooth surfaces.

 

[skylark]

I actually like close crops so the first one is Ok to me (we all see the world differently) but I just have a faint sense that a slightly smaller aperture would have made the cup just slightly sharper (may be my monitor or my glasses !)

As for the last shot your technique is great but I would also have used the same DOF the other way arond with the cigarette out of focus and the cupo sharp just to see how it looked - of course you may have done this.

The middle shot is by far the weakest, it does nothing for me anyway.

Nice shooting.

Cheers CJB

 

[Hfry]

Hey Props.... Last Shot of the Focused CIgg. Is Ba... Keep em comming.

 

[M Brex]

@skylark: here it is, of course I have

 

[mad_malteaser]

I like that first shot and the subject is great. I'm definitely a coffee and cigarette girl when it comes to breakfast...

 

[M Brex]

I like that first shot and the subject is great. I'm definitely a coffee and cigarette girl when it comes to breakfast...

thanks!!! me, too