Time and Money - Part 2

[dwaugh]

This is a work in progress and I would like to know what you think about it. It's a second part to a shot I did before - same theme. It's a bit dark, and I'm still dealing with the blown out lighting, but other than that, what do you think of this? Tell me anything...

[EastCoastHucker]

IMO there are to many pennies, the lighting is not helping and the position of the 'coins' in the center need re arrange... once again... IMHO.
I like the idea...

[dwaugh]

I agree that I need less pennies and maybe more nickels, or some other coin. I dropped them randomly so I didnt notice how they looked in the middle. I like the lighting, except for the blown out parts.. what did you think was wrong with it? I'll be trying this one again on the weekend, so any more comments are welcome.

[EastCoastHucker]

I like the lighting, except for the blown out parts.. what did you think was wrong with it?

the upper left corner...the blown out part..;)

If I was trying this shot I wouldn't use a flash, maybe a light from one of the front corners with a open aperture and low speed, and take it from more of an angle...but that's just me.

Have fun with your weekend project..;)

[dwaugh]

the upper left corner...the blown out part..;)

If I was trying this shot I wouldn't use a flash, maybe a light from one of the front corners with a open aperture and low speed, and take it from more of an angle...but that's just me.

Have fun with your weekend project..;)

I didn't use a flash, I did use a light from the bottom right, and a shutter speed around maybe 25-30 seconds, I forget exactly how long.

[EastCoastHucker]

I didn't use a flash, I did use a light from the bottom right, and a shutter speed around maybe 25-30 seconds, I forget exactly how long.

I'm sorry.. open aperture at slow speed make no sense... open aperture at high speed...
That's the beauty of Digital...we can try different set-ups and see which one works the best on the spot... still film rocks.;)

[dwaugh]

I'm sorry.. open aperture at slow speed make no sense... open aperture at high speed...
That's the beauty of Digital...we can try different set-ups and see which one works the best on the spot... still film rocks.;)

Yeah, I got it. The aperture was actually 5.6 - shutter at 30 seconds. The lighting was very low because I didn't want long shadows off the shells and watch. Somehow I need to avoid blowing out the light on the shells... not sure how...

[payn817]

you can meter off the shells, and bring up the details in the shadows to even out the exposure (if you shoot raw). Another possibility is to turn the shells so that the wider round part isn't directly facing the light source.

[gahspidy]

Diffuse the light if you have not done so. Exposing for the brightest spots is a good idea and as payn suggested bringing out the shadow detail later.

[Ronnoco]

The trick to getting this kind of shot right is the lighting. You don't use direct lighting. You bounce it off a white reflector or even use a white umbrella dome and shot down through the centre.

Ronnoco

[payn817]

Absolutely! I'm in 100% agreement with Ronnoco, and didn't even consider that in my reply. If you've seen alot of the macro/still life I've done lately, it was with that method for lighting. I prefer to bounce, but shooting through should do the trick. Still, you will have to watch for hot spots on the shells.

[dwaugh]

Thanks for the comments. I am figuring out how I can diffuse the light, and for this shot that is posted I actually did not use direct lighting. I put the light on the floor and covered most of it with a silver shiny thing I have (I think it was vent insulation wrapping). It reflected off the dark walls and you know the rest. I'll see if I can find a white background to bounce light off, and I need to figuren out how to use RAW on my computer, because until then I'm not going to shoot with it, since I dont know if I'll be able to retrieve it.

[MarcusK]

Well how about you paint the shells then? some matte paint? should do the trick! or at least help!
If you got Photoshop you should be able to download the RAW plug-in if you dont already have it....Your camera should have some RAW capable software with it too...

In any case, you could shoot one RAW file and see if it works out for you..

Marc

[dwaugh]

As for RAW, they come out of my camera in .NEF files, and so far no program can open them (I dont have photoshop). I know that I made it work once before somehow. I think I'll try changing the .NEF into a .RAW and see if that makes any difference. Anyway, In the next few days I hope to try this again and post it up here again.