First dark background photos - C&C please

[Munk_KN]

I'm pretty new to photography, bought my camera (Nikon D3100) a few months ago and today I thought I'd have a go at close-ups with a black background. I don't have any lighting stuff yet, so I tried to make do with a flashlight + bubble wrap basically. For background I used a duvet cover and both were shot with the 18-55 VR kit lens. I struggled a bit with composition (#2 especially), mostly because my setup didn't really allow me to freely choose angle and distance. #1 was way underexposed, which I've tried to compensate for in Lightroom. Let me know what you think!

Edit: Oh btw, they're both studio microphones.

#1
ISO 400, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec

Sennheiser 1 by Munk_KN, on Flickr

#2
ISO 200, 35mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec

Guld mikro by Munk_KN, on Flickr

 

[LuckySe7en]

#1 is pointless. what's the subject?
#2 I like this one. The mic looks underexposed but I like it

 

[The_Traveler]

I imagine that these are being shot for some purpose ratehr than a general artistic reason; it is pretty hard to start from scratch with product shots because they require different skills than just plain old photos.

Sort of strange that these are underexposed; if you are using the camera to judge exposure, then these would typically be over-exposed as the camera tries to make everything, including the black background, medium grey.
That being said, use the spot metering option and meter off the mike itself.


Lew

 

[Munk_KN]

#1 is pointless. what's the subject?
#2 I like this one. The mic looks underexposed but I like it

#1 is also a mic - just a much smaller one.

I imagine that these are being shot for some purpose ratehr than a general artistic reason; it is pretty hard to start from scratch with product shots because they require different skills than just plain old photos.

Sort of strange that these are underexposed; if you are using the camera to judge exposure, then these would typically be over-exposed as the camera tries to make everything, including the black background, medium grey.
That being said, use the spot metering option and meter off the mike itself.

Nope, no purpose in mind. The mics were just the most interesting things lying around
I had the camera set to manual and was trying to judge exposure myself. For #1 i was trying to achieve an "enveloping shadows" type feel, if you know what i mean. I was worried the background would not turn out black if i upped the exposure, which is why they ended up underexposed. #2 was extra tricky though, because the gold head on the mic is very reflective.

Thanks for the comments.