The Walnut

[shootme]

Thought I'd try my hand in taking a photo of something as plain as a walnut. Any thoughts / suggestions? All the same nut, just different angles for the flash, any favorite?

[danic]

I'd have to say the first shot does it for me. The flash offset at a different angle really does it for me. As does the angle at which you shoot from.

[A.M.D.A.]

I'll say number 3 is my favourite of these. I like the low viewpoint and also the way in which the walnut appears to be coming right out of the picture. Also, only the tip is in absolute sharpness - which further draws attention. Great "warm" colors. Well done!

#1. This one is also nice, especially with the shadow - but I like #3 most.
#2. Lacks some depth and considerable sharpness.
#3. (Already mentioned).
#4. Pretty good, but the shadow seems a little too hard for my taste. The nut's angle and position is great, though.
#5. Over saturated, too yellowish, blown-out areas. A fill-card would have greatly improved this shot. The shadows do however, form a nice feeling of depth - empathizing the nut's contour.

[jetrim]

I agree w/ AMDA wholeheartedly - LOVE # 3!

[shootme]

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated. I think the last one has a bit more color to it as I put some water on the shell, but I did set it to vivid color, so a bit overdone. Cheers, Peter

[GB1]

Shootme - I think there's a science to getting great shots of still life (I am no expert and am not sure I will ever be, since I am somewhat more drawn to the outdoors - still, I like all areas of photography). Some helpful pointers:

- Besides the subject, I think one has to strongly consider the environment/background. Here I think the background looks very improvised, pretty much like you just placed a walnut on the ground and snapped the shots. You might try a bowl with other walnuts, a table, etc.

- The lighting is very extreme and not very flattering to your subject (the poor walnut ). Too much directional light on many. I would stick with warm lighting and/or use a warming filter. The shadows are nice IMO but overall they don't compensate for the light.

Someone said in a book I read that the first rule of shooting still life is the "Does it look right?" rule. If so, then you have the technical job of accurately translating that to film, but in this case you have it a lot easier because digital is simpler to handle wrt color balance and you can see the results immediately, allowing compensation.

Anyway - the last shot of the walnut in black background is sort of funny.. seems like a model posing, but it's a walnut.

G

[shootme]

Hi G, thanks for the pointers, you are not far wrong I was shooting the walnut on a breadboard in my office, no special lighting a mobile flash with only a diffuser and glare from a rainy day coming from the window. I'll keep your points in consideration when I line up the apple and other fruits and vegetables.

I'm off to Bucharest, Romania (with camera) this weekend for business so it will be a couple of weeks before I get a chance for more still shots. I actually struggle to find what my niche (if I have one) in photography is, so I'm trying a bit of everything to learn and see what I like. Again thanks, Peter

[MichaelD]

#3, but with a better placement of the walnut, now it looks too fabricated.I would also add more "breating space" to the left and top.