new one for C+C..

[cepwin]

I haven't posted to C+C for a while so here it is



elephant by cepwin, on Flickr

This is a carved elephant a friend brought me from India...think it's very cool looking.

 

[IgsEMT]

Not really sure what you'd like CC on - photographic technique or editing?
If it is technique then, something product photography, that you're showing is more often then not shot using flat lighting. Also, I'd stop down 1-2 more stops to more dof.
If editing: I'd prefer not to see the shadow behind. It is too distracting from the image.

 

[cepwin]

Thank you for your CC. Actually I tried to take a good shot of a cool object. My goal was to showcase the item so even though it wasn't to "sell" something it is probably would be close to product photography as the item was to be the primary focal point. I can see that perhaps more DoF to get the object entirely in focus. (I was trying to get the background blurred out to get the focus on the item.) I also can see where a shadow can distract...I was trying to get the "form" . Hope this makes sense. Thanks again.

 

[IgsEMT]

The object is nice but I would have loved to see it in full glory.
You know what needs to be done to make it better, go ahead

 

[cepwin]

Thanks for the feedback IgsEMT. Challenge accepted!

 

[manaheim]

Very bad lighting, harsh shadow, too tight crop on top, odd positioning, poor display of the item. Also possibly some color issues. Not sure.

I would say spend some time online looking at other product shots and try to note the differences between those and yours. If your'e doing product shots, lighting has a TON to do with doing it right.

 

[mommy-medic]

White balance looks off? Background appears yellow. Also there is a bright streak on the elephant's body and the base from the flash. The felt on the bottom draws my eye to the blue line but I don't know what you could do about that. Can you bounce your flash off the ceiling or are you using the on camera flash?

 

[Ankit]

Why dont you try lighting it from various angles with more than 1 light source so that there is no shadow.

 

[cepwin]

Thanks for the feedback! Actually I just bought an SB-700 yesterday so later today (now that the batteries are finally ready) I'm going to practice with it...the best I could do lighting wise before was turn the harsh light overhead off and put a tissue on the pop-up flash to try to diffuse it. My new flash has *a lot* of options and I bought a cable so I can take it off the camera a little bit.

 

[bazooka]

Try putting the key light around toward the backside so the backside of it (frame left) is in shadow. This will be more dramatic (less product shot) and will better show the tiny details of the most important parts.

Profile Lighting for Dynamic Portraits | Pixiq

 

[cepwin]

I did some experimenting with my new light and the same subject and here are the 3 I liked best...I also moved the f stop to f13 for these so there's greater DOF. I think the third would have been the best had I also had a reflector.


elephant33-1-4 by cepwin, on Flickr


elephant33-1-5 by cepwin, on Flickr


elephant experiment 3 by cepwin, on Flickr

 

[manaheim]

Better. Position of the third is best I think.

Still needs much practice... also, looks almost like you blew it up huge to the point of deresolution or something... maybe just oveexposed. Dunno, it's weird.

Also try bouncing the flash off of something. It looks like you're still hitting it pretty hard.

 

[cepwin]

Thanks for the feedback. No, I didn't blow them up or do huge cropping.. I did process them though and perhaps I overprocessed? The first two I was able to bounce off the ceiling but the third I had the camera vertical so there was nothing to bounce the light off, hence shadows. (although I did like the position best myself) I think next time I'll use the connector cable to hold the flash so it can bounce off the ceiling. I had another one but it wasn't sharp enough for me, that I really liked the position. Oh, I should also add I put a white base on the table and it's against a white wall...Humm...a yellow background perhaps would have really showed it off??

 

[manaheim]

Thanks for the feedback. No, I didn't blow them up or do huge cropping.. I did process them though and perhaps I overprocessed? The first two I was able to bounce off the ceiling but the third I had the camera vertical so there was nothing to bounce the light off, hence shadows. (although I did like the position best myself) I think next time I'll use the connector cable to hold the flash so it can bounce off the ceiling. I had another one but it wasn't sharp enough for me, that I really liked the position. Oh, I should also add I put a white base on the table and it's against a white wall...Humm...a yellow background perhaps would have really showed it off??

Aren't you able to change position of the flash head?

 

[cepwin]

Duhhh...you're right! I'm still learning the flash. I can rotate it left and right and change the angle and see how that looks.