A Drill Press

Browndog · June 3, 2007

This is from this past winter but I would really appreciate your c & c as I hope to reshoot in the near future.:dunno

Eixf: http://browndog.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=159113728

Skippy · June 3, 2007

Browndog wrote:

This is from this past winter but I would really appreciate your c & c as I hope to reshoot in the near future.

Eixf: http://browndog.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=159113728

I can see it's a drill press, but other than that it doesn't do a whole lot for me I'm afraid.

What's at the top where the handles are that we cannot see?
Are you able to next time get above it and to the side and get more of it in? ..... Skippy

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RogersDA · June 3, 2007

You shot this at f/2.8. In this case, for good DOf, there is no need to go that wide. There is not much background. Here you lost the sharpness in the handle.

At 1/2000 sec. inside exposure it appears as though you might have metered off the background sky. The result appears as the dark shadows in the image. The dark shadow on the support plate causes it to disappear into the background. Likewise, the dark shadows at the top cause the rest of the press to disappear. Try metering off the support table or something else then recompose the shot.

You shot this straight-on so the whole press appears to be the focal point.
However, you appear to want to key in on the table, the drill bit, and the drill chuck/collet assembly. Perhaps recompose by lowering the chuck to be closer to the table, and shoot at an angle down at something larger than 50mm to get the texture in the table, too. Instead of the position you stood in try going 45-60 degrees to the left so that you can still get the riser in the image. Might want to try several shots at several different angles to see what works best.

Browndog · June 4, 2007

Thanks
Thanks for all the input Skippy & David! I will give it all a try.

swintonphoto · June 5, 2007

I would suggest doing it in black & white. There is nothing in the color that adds to the shot, and the tones would be more interesting in grayscale.

pathfinder · June 5, 2007

Actually, I like the orange tones here. Too bad the handle and the raise/lower gear track is not critically sharp. It hink the gear track needs to be sharp here.

I like machinery in B&W also, but I do think this is basically a monochromatic shot that profits by the warm sunlight that it would lose in the conversion to B&W.

The background does not help here though. The contact between the drill chuck and the background is better avoided by raising or lowering either the camera or the drill chuck too. I think a darker background might be helpful, as lighter tones tend to grab the eye as it roams around. The darkness at the left of the drill bit I rather like.

Browndog · June 5, 2007

Grayscale vs B/W

swintonphoto wrote:

I would suggest doing it in black & white. There is nothing in the color that adds to the shot, and the tones would be more interesting in grayscale.

Alright
Here it is in grayscale

And then in B/W

pathfinder · June 5, 2007

Like I said, the warm, monochromatic color is better

Orange against the complementary light blue background. Right out of grade school color wheels

CaiusMartius · June 6, 2007

I like the color of the rust. Maybe you could do a duotone based of that?

A Drill Press

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