DSS #28 - C&C Welcome

Kinkajou

I think I'm going with circles. A few ideas:

Cork

I know this is a very shallow DOF (from me? what a surprise!), but there's something that I really like about it.

Acoustic 1


Acoustic 2

I can do a reshoot on these easily (and probably should in better light), so feel free to go crazy with suggestions/ideas.

And just for kicks - here's a square

Don't worry, this isn't up for consideration for entry - I just thought it was hilarious (it's SOC, btw).

Thanks!

karlabbott

I really like the picture of the cork -- If you can try and bring out more detail in the cork, it will strengthen the composition and make it pop even more than it already does.

As for the guitars, that is also a very nice composition and I like acoustic 1 the best.

Karl

Velvet-Art

I think a shot of the cork from the same angle but really close up (as in the cork virtually filling the frame) would look great, but maybe with a bit more dof to unblur the bottle just a tad. Perhaps with a square crop too.

Great idea thumb


Tim

bf2015

I think I prefer the guitars (nice b&w). However, I'm curious to see a shot that incorporates both the neck and soundhole. The way the strings cross the frets perpendicular makes for a lot of nice symetrical squares, and all those squares would contrast nicely with the larger circular soundhole. (IMO)

richtersl

bf2015 wrote:

I think I prefer the guitars (nice b&w). However, I'm curious to see a shot that incorporates both the neck and soundhole. The way the strings cross the frets perpendicular makes for a lot of nice symetrical squares, and all those squares would contrast nicely with the larger circular soundhole. (IMO)

NikonsandVstroms

I like Cork and the depth of field is awesome. The one thing that got me was the position of the detail of the cork, its not centered, and not really off to the side, and a part of the bottle almost is anchored at the center point, almost gives my eyes an uneasy feeling but the more I look at it I kind of like that so not sure what to do on that front.

nightpixels

Ok, now I am sold that you love that shallow DOF The cork shot is beautiful and has a great potential (very good the way it is already). As some have already suggested, play with different crops and perspectives and see if you can improve it. Very clever idea!

Kinkajou

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate you taking a moment to comment.

Re Cork DOF:
I had tried some variations and liked the shallowest DOF field best. Once it I gave it a greater DOF, the floorboards were a little distracting to my eye (SOC - no tweaking):

original for comparison:

I can do a reshoot on this for more detail in the cork.

Re Acoustic:
I had tried a variety of angles and found the fretboards and strings to distracting. I really liked some of the shots, but they looked less like "circle" and more like "guitar and ukulele". Also, I liked the reflection in the shot that I posted, which is one of the main reasons I chose it over the rest, though I'm willing to part with it. Some others from the same session (SOC - no tweaking):
1

2

3 - The more I look at this one, the more I like it...

4

5

ic4u

I like your original cork shot best, I think the floor is a little distracting on the reshoot. The guitars are nice too, but I think the cork shot is more original.

richtersl

For the guitar shots, ditch the red uke and try some shots with just the guitar. The angle of the guitar in Acoustic 1 looks quite nice. I would try a shot of it at a similar angle and crop but with the sound hole fully showing.

Katmitchell

My vote is for the original cork shot or the acoustic #2 with a lower crop so just the rest of the lower bottom circle shows..

Kat

KevXman

I like the idea of the original cork image but with a few tweaks. (If I was doing this I'd...) Shoot from directly over the bottle so as to have concentric circles. Cork inside the neck, neck inside the outer surface of the bottle. When shooting, leave enough room around the bottle so that you can crop in PP to place the bottle toward one of the corners of the final image. Use a little deeper DOF so that the top of the cork and the first part of the bottle's body is in focus. As for the surface (background) I would use something with a continuous tone. The lines, no matter how blurred are a distraction to me.

This is a cool idea and I'm sure that you will nail the final take.
— Kevin

whiterice

I do like the original cork with the shallowest DOF. I like the composition, crop. I don't think there is anything I'd change - maybe selectively sharpening the cork, or selectively desaturating the rest of the image to emphasize the cork? - just thinking aloud!

But, of you newly uploaded images, I really, REALLY like #3. Love the colors, the DOF - this is a real winner IMO!

Kinkajou

I think I'm going to go with the cork just because it's different and folks seem to think it's interesting.

Here's a reshoot and original for comparison:

I took Kev's advice and tried for a DOF that allowed the top of the neck to be in focus as well (or at least discernible!), and used a different surface so that the lines of the floorboards wouldn't be distracting. I'm worried that it's a little dark, though. Might need one last reshoot in really good light.

Cork 2


Cork 1


Thank you all so much for your critique through the various challenges; all of your comments and suggestions really help my photography skills grow. It's very much appreciated!

karlabbott

You really pulled that texture out of that cork! It looks nice I would be interested in seeing the reshoot you talk about with the lighting changes.

Karl

KevXman

I like this reshoot! Very well done.

Katmitchell

#1 on the reshoot is very nice... Love the texture on the cork... and some great depth too.. Kevin was right about that flooring... I like this one much better..

If ya end up re--shooting with the better light that you mentioned, I would try out a blue background of continuous tone too, it may contrast better with the green bottle than black.. The black looks awesome, but a step up to blue on the color wheel may have surprising contrast results too.. ya never know....

It looks great..


Kat

whiterice

KevXman wrote:

I like this reshoot! Very well done.

This looks really great.....and I like this crop/comp better than the original....something about the placement of the first makes me feel unsettled not that I compare.

Kinkajou

alright, last version of the cork shot in better light and on a different surface:

Cork 3


I'm kinda stuck between 2 and 3

whiterice

I like the warmer feel of this background. But, I'd move the bottle down just a smidge.

Kinkajou

whiterice wrote:

I like the warmer feel of this background. But, I'd move the bottle down just a smidge.

Yeah, I really wish I could, but what you're seeing is the whole vertical height of the shot, so I'd actually have to set up again and reshoot in tomorrow's mid-morning light, which is unlikely at this point

Katmitchell

Hard choice,, I like both too.. However, I think #3 is more visually stunning.

I like the way the colored background contrasts and looks on the green bottle, and I kinda like the added smooth texture in the background too, it make the bottle seem less lonely and balances it too..Plus the cork in #3 is better and has more presence and texture.. and that blue glow on the bottle is pretty too..

I vote #3 then #2

Nice Work
Kat

Kinkajou

man, you guys are fast! thanks for your thoughts!

whiterice

Kinkajou wrote:

Yeah, I really wish I could, but what you're seeing is the whole vertical height of the shot, so I'd actually have to set up again and reshoot in tomorrow's mid-morning light, which is unlikely at this point

For this shot it wouldn't be difficult at all to add canvas to the top and/or crop the bottom. Easier than reshooting.

richtersl

whiterice wrote:

For this shot it wouldn't be difficult at all to add canvas to the top and/or crop the bottom. Easier than reshooting.

nightpixels

whiterice wrote:

For this shot it wouldn't be difficult at all to add canvas to the top and/or crop the bottom. Easier than reshooting.

One of my favorites ... looking good. Regarding adding canvas, if you have Photoshop CS4, there is a new feature called "Content Aware Scaling" where this can easily be accomplished without doing any cloning at all. First you need to use your lasso tool to make a selection around the bottle to tell Photoshop not to stretch those pixels before doing that. It can be a very loose selection. If you are not familiar with how it works, Google it and you will love it. I just used that feature on the grass in my entry.

whiterice

nightpixels wrote:

One of my favorites ... looking good. Regarding adding canvas, if you have Photoshop CS4, there is a new feature called "Content Aware Scaling" where this can easily be accomplished without doing any cloning at all. First you need to use your lasso tool to make a selection around the the bottle to tell Photoshop not to stretch those pixels before doing that. It can be a very loose selection. If you are not familiar with how it works, Google it and you will love it. I just used that feature on the grass in my entry.

Fancy stuff!!

The Curious Camel

I like the cork original.

Kinkajou

Thanks again everyone for all of your help! I took version 3, darkened it just a touch, and submitted it.

The Curious Camel

I like your entry.

bf2015

Kristin,

Your entry looks great in the gallery! Great choice and nicely done!

Brian