Morning Still Life (2 shots)

Hi all,

Shot these both one morning (hand held). I'm not sure which I like better, the landscape or portrait version. Also, I'm not sure if they are bright enough (or too bright). Thanks in advance for your comments...

Tim

Tim,

I like the landscape photo the best out of the two. I don't mind the darkness of the photo, but perhaps a little more detial in the flower pot and candles would be nice. Not a lot, just a little bit to give them some texture. I also think that it would be better to add another chair to the left side so it matches the right, and moving the table a bit to the right so it is centered with the middle window.

I also prefer the landscape shot and find the silhouettes quite appealing. I'm fine with the lighting and do like your composition and don't think it necessary that you add in another chair. I think the shot works well as is. I would've like the image to have been a tad sharper and I do agree that a tad bit of detail on the flower would've made this even stronger. Nice work.

Hi,

I'm sure no one will agree with me, but I think the background would have looked better if it was totally white, like a model background. The circles just don't do for me... seem to distract from the flower. Oh well. Also agree that it could have used another chair to balance, leaving only the flower to add the asymmetry (but then again, you never know until you try... that may not work after all).

Nice work. I really enjoy simplicity over busy-ness (must be a phase.....)

GB

Tom,

Lovely shots. I personally enojy the landscape one, just minus the chairs being unbalanced. Lovely colors, and the black and white works well.

Jared

Been busy the last few days so no time to comment but I'm back.

I really like the composition in these photos and the fact that they are sillouhettes.

Top - need to change the background IMO, as someone suggested the roundels take away from the picture. Less is more in this form of photos. The other bit that gets me each time I look at this is there is a mark or stain bottom left which keeps grabbbing my attention. For a different type of photo you could try lighting the candles to give it some light on the flower, especially since its a high gloss table which would give you some reflections. OoH! nearly forgot - sharpness - need a bit of sharpening

Bottom - again the roundels detract but as for the rest I like it - however thar mark is on the table again. I assume the top photo was the crop of the bottom. As for the chair I like the juxtaposition of the symmetry anound the candle and the lack of symmetry in the chairs and thats is what I think makes this photo work. Another chair added would probably spoil the photo making it to artificial. Again the candles light could work - if you have time give it a try. OoH! nearly forgot again - sharpness.

Thanks for the great comments everybody. A couple of notes:

* I am not a photographer. I have no studio, nor do I even have willing models ("Hide! Daddy's getting his camera out again..."). So, I just hope I have a camera with me when I see something I like. I shot these when padding around the house an early Sunday morning before anybody else was up. I shot mostly portrait, and the landscape version was just an after thought. I was surprised when I discovered that I liked the landscape version better and wish I worked it a bit more.

* The shot is in color and pretty much straight off the camera with almost no PP.

* The background is my dinning room curtain. So, the pattern is what it is.

* As far as sharpness goes, the originals are sharper then those presented here. Sharpness was lost after downsizing to 640 pixels. And, I could not resharpen much after the downsizing because halos would easily appear around the flower stalks (harder when near dou-tone). I don't think I have good sharpening skills. If anybody has suggestions for sharpening web-sized image files, I'm all ears...

* The one thing I will do as result of your good comments is pay closer attention to symmetry... even though I do kind of like some randomness in photos. I'll also see if I can pull more detail from the subjects. And, I'll also try lighting the candles next time.

Again, many thanks...
Tim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TDierauf

Hi all,

Shot these both one morning (hand held). I'm not sure which I like better, the landscape or portrait version. Also, I'm not sure if they are bright enough (or too bright). Thanks in advance for your comments...

Tim

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How elegant these are. Very nice mood. The thing that bothers me most is the dark line across the frame caused by the window sash behind the curtain. Since you asked about sharpening the reduced sized photos for posting, I gave it a shot in PS. Here's the result and the settings. I also messed (quickly) with dodging that dark area since I had it open. I don't think you can get away from the haloing completely since that's how unsharp mask works, but I think you'll find we all understand both th fuzziness from shrinking and the haloing from sharpening then.
What other shots did you get from that walk through the house?

I prefer the landscape version of this image, primarily because I think that the photo is a lot more interesting with the details of the room included. The photo is taken slightly left of center however and I would consider re-taking this shot from the exact center to create a balance (don't worry about adding another chair to the left though, in my opinion).

--Nate

Tim, I like these both, but my fav is the vertical shot. I agree with Chunk in that the only thing that bothers me with it is the horizontal line of the window frame through the shade. The roundels don't bother me at all. If you could do this again , but somehow remove the line, by maybe hanging another shade further in front of this one to lessen the shadow, would help

could you have gotten lower in order to get rid of the line cutting the vase in half?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kellybean

could you have gotten lower in order to get rid of the line cutting the vase in half?

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Hmmmm. Interesting idea. There would still be a line cutting the flower pot from the table edge though. But, I can give it a go. Unfortunately, the Amarillus (sp?) is no longer with us.

The bulb is, however, shooting up a new flower. So, I may give it another go incorporating some of the good comments here.This time, I'll also use a better white balance. The light is early dawn glow from behind the curtains, and it should be more bluish.

Thanks all,
Tim