"Energy"

D-B-J · Feb 19, 2011

Comments and critiques please? I am learning to love flash photography, as i seem to be getting better at it. The setup was nikon d200 w/ nikon 80-200 2.8D and nikon su800, an old vivitar a foot infront of the camera facing the ground, and a nikon sb600 camera left, slightly behind the cup and with a beauty dish on it. Was that clear? That sounded muddled; feel free to ask about the lighting or anything else, and most of all, lemme know what you think!

Regards,
Jake

Trever1t · Feb 19, 2011

I think the lighting on the carafe and the top of the cup is great, the shadow on the table right of the cup not as much. I haven't even ventured into this area so take it as a casual observer

D-B-J · Feb 19, 2011

Trever1t said:
I think the lighting on the carafe and the top of the cup is great, the shadow on the table right of the cup not as much. I haven't even ventured into this area so take it as a casual observer

The shadow bothered me as well, but i do not have my second sb600 yet so i had to make do with what i had. Thank you. :greenpbl:

OrionsByte · Feb 19, 2011

I would try cropping it really tight around the left and bottom of the cup; that would bring the splash closer to a thirds intersection, cut out the distracting bokeh in the top left, and make the shadow less distracting. The rest of the bokeh would have to be cloned out; it's just distracting IMO.

As far as lighting though, I think you did a great job. I like the mood it sets. Nice job!

D-B-J · Feb 19, 2011

OrionsByte said:
I would try cropping it really tight around the left and bottom of the cup; that would bring the splash closer to a thirds intersection, cut out the distracting bokeh in the top left, and make the shadow less distracting. The rest of the bokeh would have to be cloned out; it's just distracting IMO.

As far as lighting though, I think you did a great job. I like the mood it sets. Nice job!

I shall try that when i get home as i am at work now, but thank you! I have been working very hard on mastering my lighting, and its nice to know im getting better.

Regards,
Jake

D-B-J · Feb 19, 2011

OrionsByte · Feb 19, 2011

OrionsByte said:
I would try cropping it really tight around the left and bottom of the cup; that would bring the splash closer to a thirds intersection, cut out the distracting bokeh in the top left, and make the shadow less distracting. The rest of the bokeh would have to be cloned out; it's just distracting IMO.

As far as lighting though, I think you did a great job. I like the mood it sets. Nice job!

This morning when I said this, I was viewing the photos on my iPhone, which made them a bit darker. The out-of-focus stuff in the background isn't nearly as distracting as I thought. I still think it could benefit from a crop though.

DonBruner · Feb 19, 2011

Jake: I like what you've done, but (there's always one of those, right?) if you had put the beauty dish higher, the shadow would be less prominent. And i would have put a white reflector in front of the cup to bounce some light back to it which would also helped with the shadow.

Don

Frequency · Feb 19, 2011

Sorry this time Jake :guilty:

I find following problems
1. Too much centered
2. No activity like splash
3. something that glitters on the left is a terrific distraction

PS: just a thought; how about showing the poured liquid overflows and spread around? as a different story?

D-B-J · Feb 20, 2011

Frequency said:
Sorry this time Jake
I find following problems
1. Too much centered
2. No activity like splash
3. something that glitters on the left is a terrific distraction

PS: just a thought; how about showing the poured liquid overflows and spread around? as a different story?

There is a splash...

Regards,
Jake

D-B-J · Feb 20, 2011

DonBruner said:
Jake: I like what you've done, but (there's always one of those, right?) if you had put the beauty dish higher, the shadow would be less prominent. And i would have put a white reflector in front of the cup to bounce some light back to it which would also helped with the shadow.

Don

The beauty dish was resting on a set of books, and was as high as it could go. But i will definately think of that next time i try this. And as for the reflector, i thought about that after the shot. So that is in my plans for the reshoot as well.

Regards,
Jake

D-B-J · Feb 20, 2011

OrionsByte said:
OrionsByte said:

I would try cropping it really tight around the left and bottom of the cup; that would bring the splash closer to a thirds intersection, cut out the distracting bokeh in the top left, and make the shadow less distracting. The rest of the bokeh would have to be cloned out; it's just distracting IMO.

As far as lighting though, I think you did a great job. I like the mood it sets. Nice job!

Click to expand...

This morning when I said this, I was viewing the photos on my iPhone, which made them a bit darker. The out-of-focus stuff in the background isn't nearly as distracting as I thought. I still think it could benefit from a crop though.