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  1. #1
    Member mattp's Avatar
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    Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    No I hadn't forgotten about these, this one's number 5 in the series! Its trying to get the lighting how I want it that I find a real struggle, especially on a dull day using light from a kitchen window (with the assistance of a couple of mirrors).

    I couldn't quite capture the fizz how I wanted it, but this is as close as I could get with my camera, well - without wasting all the alka seltzer in the house

    matt

    Last edited by mattp; 05-13-2005 at 10:32 AM.

  2. #2
    News & Rum-or-ator opus's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Yay! I was so excited to see this title!

    Unfortunately I do think it suffers from the lighting. The poor little tablet is in shadow, so he doesn't immediately draw the eye to him ... the first thing you see is the bottom of the glass, which is not effective.

    I would suggest you wait till the lighting is good, then set up the shot exactly as you want it WITHOUT dropping the tablet in the glass, take a shot or two (if you shoot digital) and look at them, and when everything is perfect, then start dropping tablets in the glass. And I'm wondering if the most effective moment to get the fizz is just when the tabs have hit the bottom of the glass and are still visible as a mostly-whole tablet.

    Pay attention to your background too. What I liked so much about your others in the series was that every element in the scene was tightly controlled. Now in this one, I'm wondering if the fishtank in the background has anything to do with the scene, or is it just distracting.

    Oh wait, that's not a fishtank, is it? It's a blue glass.

    I guess my other suggestion is that the background be more identifiable.

    Great start, but I'd like to see another go at it.
    Drink Coffee. Do stupid things faster with more energy.


  3. #3
    Member mattp's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Kelly, thanks for your thoughts - the lighting is definitely the hardest thing, I want each one to have a unique feel, and if possible the lighting should look a little 'cinematic'. With the shot in my first post I was trying to get a shaft of light across the eyes, but without resorting to artificial light (which I decided was cheating) it was tough going!

    This other version is was an alternative, and is a little lighter. The background is a bottle of Scotch, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, and a little bottle of lager. Photographing the fizz is a nightmare, these things explode the minute you put them in, and are usually completely hidden in bubbles. I wonder if a really fast shutter speed would give a better effect, but to do that I'd need serious lighting!




    EDIT: I've just been playing around with that first shot, and thought that the glass on its own made quite a nice b&w image, so I'll pop that here as well just for the hell of it. Personally I find it interesting to see how other people approach their images, and hopefully I'm not alone!

    Last edited by mattp; 05-13-2005 at 01:58 PM.

  4. #4
    Member Nina's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    The 2nd one is an improvement on the lighting & this is a great idea for a series. I suggest taking a vertical shot so that the entire glass is in the scene. I think this might make for a stronger visual.
    ~Nina~

  5. #5
    News & Rum-or-ator opus's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    OK, here's what I was thinking as I was driving around yesterday, and I truly hope I'm not hijacking your idea by telling you these suggestions:


    OK, when would one need Alka-Seltzer? After a night of drinking. You've got that idea already. The morning light is good, the booze bottles are good, the fizzy glass is good, the tablet leaning against the package is good.

    What if you set it up like this, though:

    There is a window far in the background across the room. Morning light is streaming through. Between the window and the viewer is a small table with a few bottles on top. The bottles are very out of focus due to a shallow DOF. Right in front of us is the "nightstand", with our friend Alky propped up against the torn edge of the package, and his buddy Seltzer swimming in the glass. Alky is looking directly into the glass from a rear side angle. Behind him is a little bedside clock, indicating morning.

    Something like this: (I drew this with my fingertips on the trackpad of my laptop -- do you know how HARD that is? sorry it's so rough) (Oh, and I couldn't get the lighting effect I wanted, so you'll have to just imagine that the black ellipse is actually "morning light." ) (Oh yeah, and of course little Alky and the glass would be much, much more in the foreground than this!)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony-untitled-1x.jpg  
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  6. #6
    mod squad gahspidy's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Matt, your onto a very strong concept and series here. I liked the first series of shots alot, ands although this is another great idea to the series, it does suffer from lighting and overall set-up. I'm feeling that you should have just the glass and the alka seltzer on that table with nothing else except for maybe something very mellow in the far bg, but pretty much just the meat on the table. I find that a halogen flash light particuliarly a mag light that has an adjustable beam works great for certain lighting effects. I feel like if you were to shine the light from a far distance above the glass down into it from above, it would create that crystal clear fizz and also illuminat the tablet in the bottom of the glass. Another thing is I feel that this should be a vertical shot including most, if not all of the glass with the tablet on the table in the bottom left frame. Just my suggestions for improvement. Excellent series.
    please do not edit and repost my photos


    gary


  7. #7
    mod squad gahspidy's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Actually, I feel that your ripped open alka seltzer package should stay as it is effective, but the bg should be dark with no other objects visible to simplify and help bring out the scene.
    please do not edit and repost my photos


    gary


  8. #8
    Member mattp's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Thanks very much for the suggestions, some good ideas coming out (and Kelly, with talent like that you should be doing the illustrated version!).

    Gary, I think you might be right about simplifying the shot more. One of the constraints I have with these is that I have very few locations to work with, and I am not keen on it being obvious that two shots were taken in the same place. This was part of the reason why I filled the background in this latest shot - it was taken in the same kitchen as the egg one and I didn't want the worktops to be visible again. Still - the main reason for that was although I'd been planning an alka-seltzer shot for a while I hadn't got round to buying any - but guess what I found in a kitchen cupboard while visiting my parent's house (I'm so cheap!)

    I'm not sure if I want any of them to be vertical either, its another restriction, but in my mind I have them grouped together, and it might look odd to suddenly change format.

    I will have a think about what I can do with this, but in the meantime it printed out quite nicely so I'm not too unhappy.

    Thanks again

    matt

  9. #9
    News & Rum-or-ator opus's Avatar
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    Re: Tiny Moments of Anguish - Alka Seltzer Agony

    Matt, let me admit to being way too picky here. I think if you had a dozen for a calendar, this one as is would fit in just fine with the rest.
    Drink Coffee. Do stupid things faster with more energy.


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