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ocular reflex
ocular reflex
shamer


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Challenge: Reflections Without Mirrors IV (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Pentax K10D
Lens: Pentax FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro AF
Location: kitchen island
Date: Feb 10, 2008
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/8
Date Uploaded: Feb 10, 2008

 Although I don't think this image is necessarily spectacular, I have to confess I'm expecting it to at least get above 6. At this time of the year + the nasty weather we had this week, I found it impossible to get any sort of outside nature shot. I also sort of wanted to challenge myself with an interior attempt at his challenge topic & to do so with (what I thought was!) a novel approach.

This was actually a somewhat difficult shot to achieve, here are the details:

A black baking pan turned upside down with about 6 ounces of water poured on top of it. The pan was obviously a little bent, so it held a shallow pool of water quite nicely. I placed a white marble in the deepest section of that pool, positioned my camera & then proceeded to light the scene which really turned out to be the difficult part here. Because of the highly reflective marble face, I found it quite hard to fire my strobes without getting a concave, mirror like view of the entire room (I shot this at night, btw, so there was no ambient light to work with). The lighting scenario ultimately ended up being a single tungsten lamp next to the far rear wall and a single strobe bounced into an umbrella and then through a large suspended piece of ripstop nylon with a medium round diffuser serving as a reflector for fill above & to the left.

To me, this shot was about trying to conquer the issues that a photographer faces when trying to shoot highly reflective surfaces. But I also like the abstract nature of the shot itself. I find it neat the way the crispness of the marble surface stands out against the soft, buttery smooth background. The forms, textures & lighting are quite pleasing to me...

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... but apparently not to too many others... Ah, well - at least I met my minimum goal.


Here's the color version:


Statistics
Place: 39 out of 188
Avg (all users): 6.0806
Avg (commenters): 7.3000
Avg (participants): 5.7179
Avg (non-participants): 6.3426
Views since voting: 1410
Views during voting: 399
Votes: 186
Comments: 13
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-40D
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM
 02/22/2008 02:24:06 PM
*** Critique Club ***

First impressions: I like the simplistic feel of the image. The border works well with the image.

Composition: The object is placed nicely off center and the shadows form a curve leading the eye through the image. However I can't help feeling that it should be sharper.

Lighting: Subtle. This works well with the simple composition.

Impact: I think the image is a bit flat and could use a boost in contrast. To me, the colour version has much more impact. But I'm partial to warm tones.

Cheers!

Keep shooting.

Colette
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4
 02/18/2008 01:02:24 AM
Good shot at a difficult subject. I would have liked to see the whole marble in the reflection. Thank you for the lighting info, which may help me someday with a difficult shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
 02/17/2008 08:34:07 PM
Love the tone, setup, idea, composition and reflection. Great work. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
 02/17/2008 03:55:20 PM
cool&collected 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM
02/16/2008 12:09:27 AM
Very Zen. Nice simple clean shot. Great tones. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
 02/14/2008 11:40:08 AM
This photo is so peaceful, so beautiful. I think it's an egg? Not 100% certain. It doesn't matter.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2008 08:15:53 AM
Great placement of the ball in the shot, I like the smoothness and DOF you used in the background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D810
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 02/13/2008 10:11:21 PM
This is a reflection in a reflection in a reflection. Out of curiosity, I wouldn't mind seing the reflection of you in the egg and the eggs reflection a little better. But a very very nice shot!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2008 10:47:57 AM
Overly portentous title, perhaps: I'm never sure what really works, though. I like the subtlety of your use of reflections here, and the multiple meanings. Something of a cold fish, in the end, for my real taste, which is why this isn't quite my favourite of the bunch this time round. Not quite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 02/12/2008 01:58:50 PM
ewww, I do wonder what this is. It's definitely wonderful image quality and beautiful tones.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/11/2008 10:26:48 PM
love the minimalism here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera
 02/11/2008 09:31:00 AM
still a terrific image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
 02/11/2008 07:19:31 AM
I see you
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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