First picture post (Still Lifes)

TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
edited January 14, 2005 in Holy Macro
I've been doing a lot of still life work for a current Challenge elsewhere, and have come up with a variety (so to speak) of shots. I was thinking of maybe printing and framing some of these (small of course) and hanging them in our kitchen. Any critique or comments? Thanks in advance.

apples3.jpg

mortar4.jpg

spice.jpg

wine_study4.jpg
panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
Sony F717 | Hoya R72

Comments

  • GREAPERGREAPER Registered Users Posts: 3,113 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    Very nice, I am impressed. They definatly look worth hangin on the wall.
    http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/

  • Ann McRaeAnn McRae Registered Users Posts: 4,584 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    They are really, really nice, Tristan.


    ann

    My Galleries     My Photography BLOG
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  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    I've been doing a lot of still life work for a current Challenge elsewhere, and have come up with a variety (so to speak) of shots. I was thinking of maybe printing and framing some of these (small of course) and hanging them in our kitchen. Any critique or comments? Thanks in advance.
    They look very nice to me, but why small of course?

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    Sam wrote:
    They look very nice to me, but why small of course?
    Not a lot of wall space, that's all. We have a 6-8 inch ceiling drop along two of our walls for can lights - I think they'd fit there nicely. Thanks for the kind words, everyone.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited January 9, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    I've been doing a lot of still life work for a current Challenge elsewhere, and have come up with a variety (so to speak) of shots. I was thinking of maybe printing and framing some of these (small of course) and hanging them in our kitchen. Any critique or comments? Thanks in advance.

    apples3.jpg

    mortar4.jpg

    spice.jpg

    wine_study4.jpg


    Nice clean, spare, graphical design. I like your use of a mirror surface and your use of color. These are very lovely images.

    Welcme to dgrin! Would you care to describe how you set up the lighting for these shots? I think that would be very informative for our readers.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited January 9, 2005
    Tristan, nice job!

    I like the simplicity of the shots. Are you lighting them with bounce
    from an on camera flash?
    Ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    Nice clean, spare, graphical design. I like your use of a mirror surface and your use of color. These are very lovely images.

    Welcme to dgrin! Would you care to describe how you set up the lighting for these shots? I think that would be very informative for our readers.
    Thanks for the comments. I have to give some inspirational credit to Dan Koyanagi and WillemD - they have some wonderful images out there.

    Lighting - all shots done in the garage (white walls and low ceiling) with Sony F717. Flashes used were either one or two Sunpak 383s (one on hot shoe, one on lightstand with optical slave).

    Apple - single ceiling-bounced flash on hot shoe (IIRC).

    Mortar and Pestle - both flashes used, the camera-mounted one aimed backwards and up (both to trigger the slave and to add some fill from the front) and the other on camera right bounced off the ceiling. That one took MANY tries to minimize glare and get fairly even lighting. I like the way the background fades darker from bottom to top.

    Spice - both flashes, ceiling-bounced from front and right. Spoons on white foamcore.

    Wine & Glass - 15W bulb behind 32" Photogenic Eclipse umbrella, 2 second exposure, subjects again on foamcore.

    Now, if I can get the kids to sit still long enough, maybe I can do some protraits. I think these type of shots are easier (for me) since I can take as much time as I want to tweak.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    Terrific work, Tristan. bowdown.gif I think the spices shot is a real winner. The wine glass is a close second. Be nice if there was a way to make the wine in the glass a little richer, maybe a backlight of some kind? ne_nau.gif The mortar and pestle is really nice. The apple is beautifully composed, maybe a little more atmosphere? Anyway, hope this doesn't sound like carping, you're way past my skill level at lighting objects. Nice work.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Be nice if there was a way to make the wine in the glass a little richer, maybe a backlight of some kind?
    It's a really dark red wine (that's the extent of my wine knowledge), but at this point, I'm not sure how I'd do that - possibly a snoot of some sort. It's something on my list to look into. Thanks for the comments.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    It's a really dark red wine (that's the extent of my wine knowledge), but at this point, I'm not sure how I'd do that - possibly a snoot of some sort. It's something on my list to look into. Thanks for the comments.
    Great work. Is this your first attempt? Sure doesn't look like it.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • jwearjwear Registered Users Posts: 8,013 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    ???
    how about if you water the wine down some and make it more opaque would that work???
    Jeff W

    “PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”

    http://jwear.smugmug.com/
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Great work. Is this your first attempt? Sure doesn't look like it.
    It's the first occasion I've put the time and effort towards such specific shots. They represent spare time over a week or so. I've done some other studio/product-type shots, but I just got the second Sunpak and the other lighting gear (stand, umbrellas, slave) for Christmas and found the time to get to know them. The perfect timing of the current Challenge (Still Lifes) over at STF was a plus, too.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    jwear wrote:
    how about if you water the wine down some and make it more opaque would that work???
    You mean less opaque? mwink.gif I never thought of that. Great idea.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    You mean less opaque? mwink.gif I never thought of that. Great idea.
    Again I think they wpould all look great framed and hung on the kitchen wall. After some of the comments with regard to the color of the wine, I took a shot at it in PS. If you or anyone objects to my playing with thier photos. PLEASE let me know. I don't know how this will look on your monitor, but here is a quick try at it.
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • Tim KirkwoodTim Kirkwood Registered Users Posts: 900 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    Tristan,


    Love this one!!


    spice.jpg

    Nice work.
    www.KirkwoodPhotography.com

    Speak with sweet words, for you never know when you may have to eat them....
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2005
    Sam wrote:
    If you or anyone objects to my playing with thier photos, PLEASE let me know. I don't know how this will look on your monitor, but here is a quick try at it.
    Nah, I don't mind. Honestly, all I see is less of the reflection in the glass. Is that what you were going for? My monitor is an almost 5-year-old 19" CRT and I need to replace it, so maybe I'm missing something.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 10, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    Nah, I don't mind. Honestly, all I see is less of the reflection in the glass. Is that what you were going for? My monitor is an almost 5-year-old 19" CRT and I need to replace it, so maybe I'm missing something.
    That's what I ment about different monitors. The red is a little deeper, and the yellow is more pronounced, giving it a warmer tone, I think. The changes were not humungus, but if I put them up side by side on my monitor the difference is very noticable,

    Again these are great shots! Keep sharing.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • gtcgtc Registered Users Posts: 916 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2005
    red wine
    lovely images

    re red wine-from what I know about food photography-not much..read a book-is that food photographers usually substitute red wine for something lighter- I would consider something like a red berry cordial with water and experiment with concentration to get the right amount of "glow"

    greg
    TristanP wrote:
    It's a really dark red wine (that's the extent of my wine knowledge), but at this point, I'm not sure how I'd do that - possibly a snoot of some sort. It's something on my list to look into. Thanks for the comments.
    Latitude: 37° 52'South
    Longitude: 145° 08'East

    Canon 20d,EFS-60mm Macro,Canon 85mm/1.8. Pentax Spotmatic SP,Pentax Super Takumars 50/1.4 &135/3.5,Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumars 200/4 ,300/4,400/5.6,Sigma 600/8.
  • dkoyanagidkoyanagi Registered Users Posts: 656 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2005
    TristanP wrote:
    Thanks for the comments. I have to give some inspirational credit to Dan Koyanagi and WillemD - they have some wonderful images out there.
    Wow! I'm very flattered. I'm usually the one that gets my inspiration from other photographers. Thank you Tristan, you've just made my week. :D
    Dan
    www.dkoyanagi.com
    www.flickr.com/photos/dkoyanagi/
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2005
    Dan, you're more than welcome.
    panekfamily.smugmug.com (personal)
    tristansphotography.com (motorsports)

    Canon 20D | 10-22 | 17-85 IS | 50/1.4 | 70-300 IS | 100/2.8 macro
    Sony F717 | Hoya R72
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