Out of my comfort zone

[Rita]

I needed to capture an image for the topic of "Book or Song Title". There are lots of ideas in my head but trying to execute some of them has proven to be challenging. This is not a bad thing because I am learning in the process. Spent last night and part of today working on this thought for the song title of "Time in a Bottle". Ok, I know it isn't a bottle but the meaning is there I think I could improve this more so I am asking for extra sets of eyes for feedback. What do you think? Is this good as is? Should I scrap this idea and try something different?

[JBW]

I needed to capture an image for the topic of "Book or Song Title". There are lots of ideas in my head but trying to execute some of them has proven to be challenging. This is not a bad thing because I am learning in the process. Spent last night and part of today working on this thought for the song title of "Time in a Bottle". Ok, I know it isn't a bottle but the meaning is there I think I could improve this more so I am asking for extra sets of eyes for feedback. What do you think? Is this good as is? Should I scrap this idea and try something different?

Hi Rita, for me your shot doesn't make me look for a message in a bottle. I find myself concentrating on the shape and edges of the glass.

This take is just a little different.

[Shadowman]

It works for me, it definitely fits the title of the song. I like how you placed the hourglass near the edge as well.

[Dave A]

Works for me too. I think Brian thought you said "message in a bottle" when in fact you posted "time in a bottle", a great song by Jim Croce.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the reminder of the song. I enjoyed listening to it after all these years of not having heard it.

The image definitely works for me both on its own and in support of the song's title and lyrics. Your camera position relative to the subject nicely defines the shape of the top of the glass, assuming of course you wanted to do that. I also like the reflection in the tabletop. What is the tabletop material (I'm guessing transparent glass)?

Just a few ideas to execute the concept a little differently:

Consider displaying the shape of the bottle (other than the shape of its outline) and consider displaying the shape, tonalities and texture of the sand by adding one or two reflectors. The reflectors will add reflections to the glass and will brighten parts of the the sand.

Also consider making the definition of the horizon consistently the same quality all the way across rather than darker and thicker on the left side compared to the right side.

You probably didn't use flash but I wonder what effect that would have on the falling sand, whether it would make that part of the image more or less apparent and whether the stopped action would be appealing. I really don't know.

[Mike Buckley]

I think Brian thought you said "message in a bottle" when in fact you posted "time in a bottle"

My guess as well.

[JBW]

Works for me too. I think Brian thought you said "message in a bottle" when in fact you posted "time in a bottle", a great song by Jim Croce.

Dave

Yes I did... sorry.

[Rita]

No worries Brian.

[Rita]

John and Dave, thanks for commenting.

[Rita]

Thanks for your feedback Mike.

Consider displaying the shape of the bottle (other than the shape of its outline) and consider displaying the shape, tonalities and texture of the sand by adding one or two reflectors. The reflectors will add reflections to the glass and will brighten parts of the the sand.

I will work on that over the weekend. The sand was the main thing that I didn't like with the image so I will work on this some more over the weekend.

Also consider making the definition of the horizon consistently the same quality all the way across rather than darker and thicker on the left side compared to the right side.

Oops! I meant to fix that before posting

You probably didn't use flash but I wonder what effect that would have on the falling sand, whether it would make that part of the image more or less apparent and whether the stopped action would be appealing. I really don't know.


I did use flash Mike. The flash was on the left of the image hitting white foam core and bouncing back to the hour glass. There was a reflector on the right to try and bounce some light in from the right hand side. I wasn't able to show the movement of the sand so I did another image without the flash and masked in the moving sand to the image. The stopped action on the sand gave it a look like water drops but I really wanted to show the sand moving.

[Wavelength]

I liked it

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for explaining your setup, Rita. That makes it clear why the right side of your background is darker than the left side. That's fine if that's what you wanted. It makes sense considering your composition and use of negative space. However, it also explains why the definition of the right side of the glass is less than on the left side. It probably also explains the difference between the two sides of the horizon.

If you have two flash units, try using one on each side set at the same distance from and angle to the background. Also set both units to the same power.

Alternatively, try positioning just one unit above or below the background but centered relative to the subject. Try to position the flash unit far enough away from the background (without allowing its light to fall directly on the subject) that the part of the background captured by the camera is lit relatively balanced. Another option is to position it so close to the background that that close proximity creates a nice vignette.

For yet another option, use one flash unit placed behind a piece of diffusion material, whether it's translucent acrylic, translucent vellum or any thin, translucent material such as a white curtain or tracing paper. Make that material your background and point the flash unit toward the subject and camera. For a more refined explanation of that setup, refer to Light: Science & Magic.

I'm still curious as to what the tabletop material is. Is it transparent glass?

[Rainforest]

I like it too. :-) I think if you can work on the falling sand a bit it would be super...sorry I can't actually help with suggestions. The post is helpful on that account.

[purplehaze]

Fun exercise! Mike has some good suggestions; I would just add that you might think about covering your tabletop and background with a sheet of the same material to make the edge between them more of a gradient.

[Mike Buckley]

think about covering your tabletop and background with a sheet of the same material to make the edge between them more of a gradient.

Good point!

There is always that question as to whether we want an horizon and, if so, what style of horizon. In this case, if the reflection is important to Rita and if she wants to eliminate or minimize the horizon by using a single sheet of material for both the tabletop and background, she will need to use a reflective material.

Another way of eliminating the horizon and/or using a gradient is to do all of that during post-processing. It's especially easy to eliminate the horizon that way.

[bnnrcn]

I like it Rita. I think you are trying the most difficult part of photography which is shooting in a studio . Good luck

[Rita]

Thank you all for your comments and feedback.

[Rita]

Mike, my apologies, I somehow missed answering about the tabletop. It isn't transparent glass. What I used was a piece of card stock that has a bit of sheen to it. I am going to play with this image again tonight and try out some of your suggestions.

[Rita]

Here is another take on this image. I played with suggestions from these posts and ended up using one flash (because that's all I have) pointing toward the background which was a piece of foam core. I used a second piece of white foam core for the tabletop. I raised the 'tabletop' by putting the foam core on top of a box so that I could shoot at a different angle. Somehow this setup helped with the falling sand giving it a bit of blur and not as static as it was in my original, before I masked in the blurred sand. There is also a bit more detail in the sand. This setup also helped to eliminate the horizon line but still left me with a bit of reflection so my subject isn't floating. I think I am making some headway here.

[Mike Buckley]

I think I am making some headway here.

I should say so! Both sides of the glass now have the same look and, as you mention, more detail is now displayed in the mounds of sand. I really like the look of the falling sand a lot more than in your first image. And if you were looking for a more even lighting of the background and tabletop, you certainly achieved it. Now you only need to make a minor adjustment to straighten the subject to a true vertical.