Comments/advice appreciated.

[eon]

Hi All,

Thought I would put this pic up I took.

Used my D7000 with 50mm 1.8D. No flash, just a desk top light and shot in manual.

The inspiration for this pic was I thought black and chrome would work well and also seeing Rob Marshall's work. I positioned the lighter on granite. I don't have photoshop, but all I did was crop a little.

I will let you guys be the judge as I am very new to photography and respect your opinions.

Best
Eon

[eon]

Just as an add on, I shot at 1/40 F2.8 ISO 400 and would be curious to know what settings you guys would approach this shot with?
Thanks in advance

[jiro]

If this is SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera), Eon then I think you did good. I am not so sure if you have used any kind or reflectors to add some detail on the dark areas but using one would help you get the dramatic effect you need to make this one more interesting. The shot is a bit tightly cropped. I was thinking if you can add some more extra space on top of the subject to make it balanced.

For a straight out of camera shot this is really promising. However, I have to say, in order for you to bring out your imagination well and make this shot become more convincing and powerful you need the help of some post-processing software. The software can help you make your black become true black and your bright areas shine without blowing up the details. Your shot is even better than my shot SOOC! Your camera setting is good. At that shutter speed I hope you used a tripod to prevent camera shake. If this would be my shot, I would probably angle it a little bit to show more volume or dimension compared to a straight shot to the camera. Nice work, Man.

[Wirefox]

Eon

That is almost the same lighter I have carried around for the last 15 years. Did you get it in the presentation can? Mine is the solid brass version These things were not cheap 15 years ago.

I actually like the shot but as Jiro points out you really need to get going with the PP. It need sharpening and more contrast. The front on composition does not bother me too much but it is certainly worth playing around a bit. The biggest gripe I have is that the crop is way too close you need to balance all that fuss with some negative space

I shot at 1/40 F2.8 ISO 400

Nowt wrong with that......anyway you do not need to ask you got near perfect exposure

[eon]

Thanks loads guys.

Jiro... In hindsight, maybe I should have left a load of negative space to the right? Yeah, I do need to look at Post processing software as I only have View NX2, but up till now I have been reading up on driving the camera, but I totally take your point. I didn't tripod this.... my hands were made steady by resting on a flightcase

Wirefox.... Yeah, that is the very lighter and yes I got the can. Mines unused. As for sharpening, I have read a few things online about the D7000 having soft images.... Still trying to work out if it's my rookie technique or the camera, but I feel that my images arent as sharp as I would like.

[Wirefox]

D7000 having soft images.... Still trying to work out if it's my rookie technique or the camera, but I feel that my images arent as sharp as I would like.

All images need some PP sharpening (especially when downsized for the web) and dont forget you are using a wide aperture close in. This will give you wafer thin DoF. I certainly would not worry about that D7000. I suspect any softness induced by the camera will only be evident at 400% and yes some anoraks do judge IQ at that magnification and go on to write damning hardware reviews based on diferences that are imperceptible when using the camera in the way for which it was made. Certainly most people stand back to look at images but if you sit in a gallery eating your butties one in 500 viewers will remove their half moon specs and peer at a portion of the image from 2 inches away....invariably they will shake their heads knowingly and shuffle off. I strongly suspect its the same guy who kicks the tires on a car to test road worthiness All very dramatic but misses the point by a mile.

[eon]

That's a help. Thanks Wirefox..... I am reading up on DOF at the moment. My initial thought was that if I wanted a blurred background that I just open up the F stop, but I am learning there is a lot more to it than that.

[jiro]

Eon, one possible edit on enhancing an image using post-processing technique.



Hope this helps.

[eon]

Cool... Thanks Jiro.

What did you do to it? Chrome looks good with the black... has more life/tonality

Thanks

[jiro]

Cool... Thanks Jiro.

What did you do to it? Chrome looks good with the black... has more life/tonality

Thanks

I applied an S-curve adjustment to it. What this do is that it adds extra contrast on both the bright and dark areas of the image without altering the midtones. I also added some selective sharpening on the image. Selective because I only added it to the lighter itself but not to the reflection to create more contrast. Then I increased the size of the frame to add some negative space to it. Basically that's about it.