Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2015/01/lonely-pear.html
Showing posts with label fruit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fruit. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Lonely Pear
A simple still life shot with an iPhone: pear with wood and granite. Flat, uninteresting light, but that did allow the textures and colors to dominate, and the odd marks on the pear to show clearly, and emphasized the outline of shape rather than an illusion of third dimension. Or, I'm just making excuses for the flat light and my failure to do anything to modify it! Try this one: I got hungry!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Vacant fruit
When we see these seeds/fruits in spring, they usually have a wasp in residence. This one was vacant, making it a candidate for an indoor portrait. I used three Canon 600EX-RT (radio controlled flash units that can be positioned almost anywhere) to highlight as much texture as I could, as well as showing the microscopic fibers around the stem.
In the first shot, I allowed a slight depression in the front to drop into shadow.
In the second version, I went for a graphic look, using high contrast and an angle that made the most of a two dimensional shape.
For variety, here's a monochrome version, with a fingertip for scale.
The final image is a focus stack of six shots. When magnification is high, it isn't possible to get much depth of field. Flat objects like postage stamps are relatively easy to render with fine detail, but something with depth comparable to lateral dimensions is not likely to be manageable with a single shot. I focused first on the nearest point, then gradually focused farther out for successive images. I then opened the six shots in Photoshop CS6 and allowed the program to blend them, using the sharpest portions of each.
By the way, the background was a very high tech piece of equipment: a black sweatshirt.
In the first shot, I allowed a slight depression in the front to drop into shadow.
In the second version, I went for a graphic look, using high contrast and an angle that made the most of a two dimensional shape.
For variety, here's a monochrome version, with a fingertip for scale.
The final image is a focus stack of six shots. When magnification is high, it isn't possible to get much depth of field. Flat objects like postage stamps are relatively easy to render with fine detail, but something with depth comparable to lateral dimensions is not likely to be manageable with a single shot. I focused first on the nearest point, then gradually focused farther out for successive images. I then opened the six shots in Photoshop CS6 and allowed the program to blend them, using the sharpest portions of each.
By the way, the background was a very high tech piece of equipment: a black sweatshirt.
Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2013/05/vacant-fruit.html
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wild Berries: contrast between subject and background
A brief time spent with some wild berries in the middle of the "mosquito patch", and how to "change the background"...without changing the background:
This wild fruit ripened in an area that was unfortunately overrun by flying hexapodal syringes (a.k.a. skeeters). There were a few pretty specimens hanging in various locations on the shrub, but the background was going to be a challenge. There were all sorts of ugly broken branches, dead leaves, etc., and the patches of direct sunlight coming through small openings in the tree canopy made a hodgepodge that was not going to photograph in an attractive fashion. My most successful shot from a "graphical" perspective took shape when I found one berry in a narrow shaft of sunlight. Getting close, and exposing for the subject, I was able to get the background to go black and disappear. This left me with the stark shapes of the fruit, leaves, and stems, with nothing else to distract. Well, there is a bit of spider silk caught by the edge of the light in the upper right. I like that, though, and consider it a minor balancing element, rather than a distraction.
I did want to try to portray more of the context, and moved about on the ground until I could no longer bear the assault of the biting bugs (in spite of deet, I might add). This next shot was a pretty good idea, I think, but not completely successful because of the overly bright highlights in the background. I just needed an assistant to hold up a scrim or a flag and block the intense sun from that area! I tried lower angles to show different shapes of the subject, but the sky was bright and colorless, so not much luck.
A closer view works a little better in some ways:
All shot with the very flexible Canon 100/2.8 L macro lens. It's great for portraits of people, animals, berries, and insects!
This wild fruit ripened in an area that was unfortunately overrun by flying hexapodal syringes (a.k.a. skeeters). There were a few pretty specimens hanging in various locations on the shrub, but the background was going to be a challenge. There were all sorts of ugly broken branches, dead leaves, etc., and the patches of direct sunlight coming through small openings in the tree canopy made a hodgepodge that was not going to photograph in an attractive fashion. My most successful shot from a "graphical" perspective took shape when I found one berry in a narrow shaft of sunlight. Getting close, and exposing for the subject, I was able to get the background to go black and disappear. This left me with the stark shapes of the fruit, leaves, and stems, with nothing else to distract. Well, there is a bit of spider silk caught by the edge of the light in the upper right. I like that, though, and consider it a minor balancing element, rather than a distraction.
I did want to try to portray more of the context, and moved about on the ground until I could no longer bear the assault of the biting bugs (in spite of deet, I might add). This next shot was a pretty good idea, I think, but not completely successful because of the overly bright highlights in the background. I just needed an assistant to hold up a scrim or a flag and block the intense sun from that area! I tried lower angles to show different shapes of the subject, but the sky was bright and colorless, so not much luck.
A closer view works a little better in some ways:
All shot with the very flexible Canon 100/2.8 L macro lens. It's great for portraits of people, animals, berries, and insects!
Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2012/09/wild-berries-contrast-between-subject.html
Friday, August 17, 2012
Apple and Strawberry
So an apple went for a walk...
We won't go there for any bad jokes, but let's follow the apple that I carried around for a while.
It became a fence post sitter, and I was on the fence about how to compose this little study in perspective. I chose to do it two ways. Both shot with the same 50 mm lens, by the way.
I tilted the camera for this image of an unlikely resting place because I liked the way it emphasized the balance point of the apple, which looked a little askew in any case.
The apple seemed to find a natural home in an oversized strawberry.
We won't go there for any bad jokes, but let's follow the apple that I carried around for a while.
It became a fence post sitter, and I was on the fence about how to compose this little study in perspective. I chose to do it two ways. Both shot with the same 50 mm lens, by the way.
I tilted the camera for this image of an unlikely resting place because I liked the way it emphasized the balance point of the apple, which looked a little askew in any case.
The apple seemed to find a natural home in an oversized strawberry.
So that's where it ended up for its formal portrait. Classical Photography, you might say.
Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2012/08/apple-and-strawberry.html
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