I prefer shooting out of doors but I need studio work. From our garden/studio

[JBW]

This time it was an intentional shot rather than something I just happened upon. I took along some bits and bobs to create a better back ground and hopefully a better shot.

[Stagecoach]

Brian

IMHO the image is looking flat. Perhaps making the background black would help?

[JBW]

Brian

IMHO the image is looking flat. Perhaps making the background black would help?

Curious... to me it looks 3Dish

[Shadowman]

Looks good to me, nice effort.

[JBW]

Looks good to me, nice effort.

this may well be just artsy enough to be good for some and not others. All my wife sees is more yard maintenance

[Mike Buckley]

A big, bold composition. Very nice!

You have an inanimate subject and you have the same background tools, so it would be relatively easy recreate the image in different light. Light that is a little less diffuse would enhance the shape of the metal in my mind.

The characteristic that is most immediately noticeable to me is that the background is one tonality (confirmed by using a color picker to determine the luminosity value). That is so difficult to achieve when shooting any background outdoors other than true black that it makes the scene appear bizarrely unrealistic to me. Indeed, I would wager that you changed the background during post-processing to be just one luminosity value. The realism of the subject for me commands also displaying a realistic background, so consider using either a true black background or a background with naturally varying tonalities.

[JBW]

A big, bold composition. Very nice!

You have an inanimate subject and you have the same background tools, so it would be relatively easy recreate the image in different light. Light that is a little less diffuse would enhance the shape of the metal in my mind.

The characteristic that is most immediately noticeable to me is that the background is one tonality (confirmed by using a color picker to determine the luminosity value). That is so difficult to achieve when shooting any background outdoors other than true black that it makes the scene appear bizarrely unrealistic to me. Indeed, I would wager that you changed the background during post-processing to be just one luminosity value. The realism of the subject for me commands also displaying a realistic background, so consider using either a true black background or a background with naturally varying tonalities.

let me think on this and pl;ay with the shot a bit

[JBW]

Is the black better?

[Wavelength]

WOW; this is great. It has a dominating effect in the viewer

[Wavelength]

I especially like the retaining of those cobweb threads

[JBW]

I especially like the retaining of those cobweb threads

I must admit that when I took the shot I didn't even see them. I'm glad I could keep them.

[mugge]

Brian, I did not like the first version much. Second version much better.
Cheers Ole

[JBW]

Brian, I did not like the first version much. Second version much better.
Cheers Ole

There seems to be a consensus building.

[Mike Buckley]

Agreed that the black background is much better. I think one of the reasons for the strong impact is that we're used to seeing plants photographed both indoors and outdoors with a black background but we're not used to seeing this type of subject photographed that way.

I still think the photo would be taken to an even higher level if the light on the subject wasn't so diffuse.

[JBW]

Agreed that the black background is much better. I think one of the reasons for the strong impact is that we're used to seeing plants photographed both indoors and outdoors with a black background but we're not used to seeing this type of subject photographed that way.

I still think the photo would be taken to an even higher level if the light on the subject wasn't so diffuse.

You are probably right but aside from a fill flash I have no idea how to do that. And my flash unless I diffuse it usually makes a mess of things

[Mike Buckley]

It's likely that the easiest way to achieve ideal light that creates more shadows on the subject is to watch for it occurring under natural conditions. Depending on the situation, you might be able to make that happen using a flashlight placed on either the right or left side of the scene.

[JBW]

It's likely that the easiest way to achieve ideal light that creates more shadows on the subject is to watch for it occurring under natural conditions. Depending on the situation, you might be able to make that happen using a flashlight placed on either the right or left side of the scene.

The pipe runs pretty much north and south so this time of the year there's not much shadow but I will certainly try the flashlight idea

[Mike Buckley]

You want the flashlight to overpower the sunlight. That's most likely to happen when the sun is low. Otherwise, place something near the scene that causes the pipe to be in shadow. The flashlight will be more likely to overpower the natural light in that situation.

[JBW]

You want the flashlight to overpower the sunlight. That's most likely to happen when the sun is low. Otherwise, place something near the scene that causes the pipe to be in shadow. The flashlight will be more likely to overpower the natural light in that situation.

I'll give this setup a try.