Spindle Spotting

deeky · Feb 18, 2013

Found some great stair rail spindles with some decent light. Comments always welcome.

Photographiend · Feb 20, 2013

I love this one as well. The focus, the contrast, the leading lines and your creative interpretation of a... Staircase??? You make it look easy but I struggle like hell and I can't pull off photography like this.

deeky · Feb 20, 2013

It is a staircase. Easy? I won't tell you how many different shots of this rail I took.

I ended up with one good one. It's all a matter of seeing things a little differently. I've had to put up with more than a few jabs from my wife about never taking pics with people/the kids in them (getting better at that). I think it's really just a practice thing - go out and look for something particular or a specific size/scale. Eventually it comes.

PixelRabbit · Feb 20, 2013

deeky said:
It is a staircase. Easy? I won't tell you how many different shots of this rail I took. I ended up with one good one.

Good shot! You aren't kidding, I've shot spindles before and they weren't nearly as intricate as this one, it has to be juuuuust right or things go south fast. Good job finding the right angle

Designer · Feb 20, 2013

deeky said:
I've had to put up with more than a few jabs from my wife about never taking pics with people/the kids in them

Do you think your wife and kids would be willing to pose as your photographic models for a few hours?

I've had to fight, cajole, and threaten to get the kids to pose for me, and it was a fight all the way. After that one session, I was absolutely flagged, and I wonder if there will be another one.

It was in reality almost two hours of the most arduous effort to get them to get in front of the camera, then only about 15 minutes total shooting time. I wish I could have spent more productive time at it, but the getting ready took so much effort that I didn't want to make them tired of the posing.

KenC · Feb 20, 2013

Very nice. I think it would work better with a little more depth of field and/or with the plane of focus a little closer to the foreground.

sleist · Feb 20, 2013

I like it, but suggest rotating it 90 degree clockwise. I also agree with KenC's comment with respect to the plane of focus (though it's less bothersome to me after rotating it)

deeky · Feb 20, 2013

Designer - good luck with that. My daughter would pose, but really struggles with a forced, unnatural smile when she's posing. My son - well, he's 3 and does not like being told what to do so you have to catch the candids. School pictures were a pout because not only was he told what to do, but he wanted the pretty girl to take his picture, not the old guy. That's my boy, but he wears me out without trying to get pics in.

Ken - I agree on the plane of focus being closer. This shot actually took a fair amount of cropping to crop out a large flat dull spot lower left, which pushed the point of focus further left (perceived as deeper in the image). Unfortunately just the way the framing ended up.

Designer · Feb 21, 2013

deeky said:
Designer - good luck with that. My daughter would pose, but really struggles with a forced, unnatural smile when she's posing. My son - well, he's 3 and does not like being told what to do so you have to catch the candids. School pictures were a pout because not only was he told what to do, but he wanted the pretty girl to take his picture, not the old guy. That's my boy, but he wears me out without trying to get pics in.

Thanks, deeky. I think I just need to try again, and keep on trying. That particular day, I was doing it at the behest of their mother, who wanted pictures of them in their TKD uniforms. They can pose if they want to, but they don't always want to.

Designer · Feb 21, 2013

deeky; I just realized that I hijacked your thread without commenting on your spindles shot.

This is very interesting as an abstract composition, and I like the way it is tilted and converted to B&W, but as an abstract, I wonder if it might have been improved if it had a deeper DOF? What do you think?

deeky · Feb 21, 2013

Designer said:
deeky; I just realized that I hijacked your thread without commenting on your spindles shot.

This is very interesting as an abstract composition, and I like the way it is tilted and converted to B&W, but as an abstract, I wonder if it might have been improved if it had a deeper DOF? What do you think?

No worries - your highjack wasn't a rant, argument, or other form of thorn, so it's just good conversation.

I think more dof could have worked, but I was already at my max ISO and 1/30 shutterspeed shooting hand held. I didn't have a tripod with me so was already pushing my limits. I was afraid any less aperture and I would start suffering from camera shake with the longer shutter speed.

Designer · Feb 21, 2013

I think that any repeating element that marches through the DOF is about the toughest shot in photodom. I've seen several examples of parking posts, fence posts, piano keys, etc., all of which exceed the DOF.

I am intrigued by the ornate carving on your posts. Where was this shot?

manaheim · Feb 21, 2013

Pretty neat shot. Nice eye.

deeky · Feb 21, 2013

Designer said:
I think that any repeating element that marches through the DOF is about the toughest shot in photodom. I've seen several examples of parking posts, fence posts, piano keys, etc., all of which exceed the DOF.

I am intrigued by the ornate carving on your posts. Where was this shot?

It's actually right in your backyard, corner of Grand Ave and E 12th St. in Des Moines - State Capitol building. All of the latest were actually taken over about a 6-hour walk through Des Moines.