The image is a little small, remember that you can go up to 640 pixels on the longest length. I'm not really a fan of the 'rim' shadow and it also has some noise, but I do like the shadow of the hand - it's almost like present time and a shadow of the past.
Thanks Nyki, maybe I'm trying to run before I can walk? I see something and want to photograph it. I know what you mean about the shadow, it was light just from my kitchen lights - maybe I should take it outside if I get some good sunlight? (unlikely in the Uk for a while!)
Andi,
Use a halogen worklight, turn off your other lights. That way you can position the light source to cast the shadow in the desired direction. If you change the light source so that it's coming from a direction perpendicular to the hand of the clock, it will move the shadow so the apparent length of the "shadow' hand is same as the real one. It will also shrink the shadow of the rim.
I like the idea, keep playing with it, it's a great way to learn.
Thanks Nyki, maybe I'm trying to run before I can walk? I see something and want to photograph it. I know what you mean about the shadow, it was light just from my kitchen lights - maybe I should take it outside if I get some good sunlight? (unlikely in the Uk for a while!)
Taking pictures of everything you see is a good thing. You learn to evaluate what you like and dislike about an image and try and correct it. You also learn to start seeing things before you take an image, which also teaches you when not to press the shutter button. There are no mistakes, there are simply stepping stones to greater things.
Having a simple halogen desklamp or worklight like Kirbic suggests can help a lot with controlling shadows, especially due to their portability. The sun is really hard to reposition!
I guess I should be glad of the digital era! 20 years ago I was into photography and waited up to a week for a contact sheet to come back, now I can just delete what I don't like :)
When you say halogen worklamp do you mean something like this?
Yup, you can also get them on stands. I also use clip-on desk lamps, which are significantly less than 500 but still do an ample job for small items. One thing you have to be careful of is that they get VERY hot.
