Sticks

[Black Pearl]

Bored senseless this morning so out came the D300s, on went my 60mm, onto the tripod they both went and off I went around the house looking for something to take a picture of.

Turns out we have some cocktails sticks:



Nikon D300s
Nikon 60mm f2.8D Micro
Manual exposure 1/30s - f11 - 200iso
13 NEF files stacked using HeliconFocus then a quick tweak in Nik SEP.

[John 2]

That could happily grace a wall Robin. Good image!

[Downrigger]

Extraordinary. Lighting not mentioned but adds to the fine result you have here.

[Black Pearl]

Thanks

Shot it in the conservatory so lots of light but because its misty and grey outside (hence me getting all bored) it was fairly diffused. Actually the huge white plastic roof acts as a pretty good diffuser until its very bright outside and the light gets too harsh.

[Shadowman]

Nice image.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice image

[SpiderBob]

I wish I can do this well. Guess that is why I don't try. Great picture, it's mesmerizing.

[flashback]

Simply great, and elegant in its simplicity.
However (someone has to point it out)...there is some schmutz on the image, from about 6 o'clock to midnight. I'm guess part of the container? Shadow? Spectral presence?

[Donald]

It's amazing how long you can look at something so apparently simple and see so much to look at. The art & craft of photography wonderfully displayed.

[Mike Buckley]

Absolutely gorgeous pattern and light.

It's amazing how long you can look at something so apparently simple and see so much to look at.

Exactly what I was compelled to do. In fact, I discovered a manufacturing defect; one of the sticks was not sharpened to a point. I'm not telling where it is located.

Robin: The issue Jack mentioned is in the background and in areas of the background that he didn't mention. You would do well to select the entire background and raise the black point until everything is a very dense, consistent tone of black.

[Black Pearl]

Thanks for the comments.

I've spotted the 'duff' stick.
I'll remember not to try and poke that one through a pickled onion and a cube of cheese :-)

While I do take advantage of a few bits of clever software I try not to go over the top with processing - I will however look again at the file and make sure the black is uniformly black. Thanks again for the comments and the feedback - everyone need to learn and feedback is king.

[IzzieK]

I am late to this party, but I must say that simplicity and minimalist shot is much better than a complicated flower shot...nicely done...

And forgive my ignorance but is a cocktail stick any different from toothpicks for appetizers or are they the same? Just asking a really honest question....

[Mike Buckley]

is a cocktail stick any different from toothpicks for appetizers

My toothpicks don't have the interesting grain that these pieces have.

[DanK]

very nicely done, and a striking for its simplicity.

Robin--the PP that Mike suggests (which I would also do if it were mine) is nothing much more than any localized tonal adjustment. I do it often with flowers that have black backgrounds. One way to do it is to select the background by color in photoshop and push the levels to black. I've also done it in Lightroom, but that takes more time.

[Kyle]

It's amazing how long you can look at something so apparently simple and see so much to look at. The art & craft of photography wonderfully displayed.

I was about to comment but Donald has pretty much said what I was thinking.
Great shot. Very simple yet interesting.

[PhotoRob]

Very nice Robin; there's something peaceful about simplicity like this, thank you for sharing it...

[Stagecoach]

I like this Robin, a great example of how such simple things found around the house can be arranged and photographed to make them so interesting.

[ShaneS]

Very nice and awfully inspiring! I'm not sure I would have seen it though so good on you

[dedro]

very nice robin

[FootLoose]

Good find, Robin, and excellent shot.