Orange Peel w/ Multiple Flashes

[kdthomas]

Shot this on my Toyo 4x5, 210mm lens, with Ilford FP4+ 125 @f/22. When I metered this it called for f/4 with the strobe very distant (25 feet) from the subject. So, I stopped down to f/22 and that would have called for 32 pulses of the flash. But ... I wanted to underexpose for a +1 push, so that left me with 16 pulses of the flash. I completely darkened the house, opened the shutter, and fired the strobe once per second for 16 seconds. Lens to subject distance was about 2 feet, and to be honest I completely forgot about bellows expansion. I was surprised by the effect, especially the glowing areas under the peel.

I wanted to give it a lunar surface kind of feel with long, deep shadows, and catch some detail in the peel. Some of it seemed kind of blown, though, so I tried a little burn.

Anyway, what do we think of the image? Concept? Composition? Does it hold interest, should I go further with editing? I may or may not, but I'd like to hear what everyone thinks. Many thanks as always




after some burning:

 

[Designer]

This doesn't have much going for it. I see this as perhaps your first attempt, which is a good start, but you need to keep working on it.

Compositionally, it is weak, and maybe upside down, by which I mean the light parts are on the bottom, and the dark parts are on top. Try just tossing the pieces down at random until you see a better composition.

As a study in chiaroscuro and texture, it has possibilities, but it needs work.

If you get a superb composition, it will hold some interest, but probably only for those who like that kind of thing.

As for digital editing, I would probably not do any. If you get a good shot it won't need any, and further editing will not help a weak shot.