Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Lately, it's been raining like a cow pissin' on a flat rock, so my hiking activities have been curtailed, which means the stuff I really enjoy photographing is not reachable. (I'm not afraid of rain, but those hills are so sloppy, you can take two steps up, and fall back three.)

So, I've been trying to channel my energies indoors. What do I have, in the house, that would either make for an interesting photo, or provide a learning opportunity? If I could get both, that would be a bonus.

I don't think I have tried to do any low key still life, before. Usually, my dark, moody lighting has been in the area of portrait work. I thought I'd try something different, this time. I wanted to go for a minimalist still life, with a low key treatment. I ended up with two examples.

The first, the baseball, I was thinking of dedicating to one of my brothers, who is a lifelong Cubs fan. One might call it, "The World of Baseball". (Purists will not that the ball is not a hardball, but a 12 inch softball. It's all I had.)

The second, the fruit, was just an exercise to see if I could make the three pieces of fruit look interesting, in a minimalist setting.

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rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Both of them look really nice.
--Bob

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Thanks!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I'd say you achieved your objective with #1. #2 looks a bit flat - maybe a better brightness/contrast balance might work, but I think the main problems is that fruit don't particularly suit low key.

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Thanks! In this exercise, I was interested in the shapes of the objects -- essentially, round -- and how a single light would play off a single object, and multiple objects. I never gave a thought as to whether fruit is suited to low key photography. But, since you mentioned it, what do you think makes fruit not suited to low key? Is it the shape, or the fact that I have too many round objects? Is it the fact that these fruit items -- an orange and a couple of apples -- don't have a great deal of interesting texture, thereby not casting enough interesting shadows from the single light?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I think perhaps that the texture gets lost in the darkness, and their strongest point - their colour - gets underplayed.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I love the details of your softball. I find the light and the position of the seams really pleasing. That it's apparently gotten much use adds another dimension to the story.

I read your exchange with R.G. before I looked at the fruit, so this comment is probably given with more insight than I would have come up with on my own

The left and center fruit work really well for me because of the catchlights, their shapes relative to each other (with the shadows too; and like the softball, I think the positioning is super-nice), and the contrast of their colors (again, relative to each other).

The orange has no interesting light, very dull color and an unattractive perspective, IMO. I know the deal about using odd-numbered objects, but for me, removing the orange from this shot makes it a winner!

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Thanks for your comments.

I felt it really needed three objects, but I only had two apples in the house. I put the orange closest to the light, simply because its skin has some texture, and the light should case microshadows on the skin. (This is much like a half moon shot vs. a full moon shot.) I wanted the green apple in the center, positioned that way, so that the light would cast an interesting shadow on the stem area. (To me, this is like Rembrandt lighting, but if the nose was an innie, instead of an outie.) The red and yellow apple is only there to catch the shadow cast from the green apple.

I actually toyed with the idea of putting the ball in there, instead of the orange. I thought that would be against the theme of fruit, but, now that I reflect on it, it could have worked. Baseball and apples. What's more American than baseball and apple pie? (It would probably need mitt, which I do not have.)

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Would you be willing to describe the lighting source used and perhaps distance from the source to subject? Im interested in doing some still life and could use some pointers.

Walt

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

I achieved the black background by draping my wife's flat, black raincoat over an ottoman. (High tech, ain't it?) I placed the objects on top of that raincoat, and shot the photos with a very fast shutter speed. ISO was at 100 for both shots. The baseball was shot at 1/8000 second shutter speed, and an aperture of f/4. The fruit was shot at a 1/1000 second shutter, and an aperture of f/11.

I used one speedlight, about three feet away, to the right and above. The light had a snoot. I used the speedlight in TTL mode, and, if I recall correctly, I knocked the speedlight down by 2/3 stop.

The Watcher

Seen lots of moody fruit shots over the years. I find the ball interesting.

Matt Quinn Loc: Marriottsville, MD, Brewster, Cape Cod

Thanks for the info on exposure etc. I like the light on the orange--it's diffuse soft and blends with the texture. The catch lights on the apples are too sharp and obvious for me, draw my eyes away from the rest of the composition. You have encouraged me to play.