Tabletop shot: I was trying out some ideas on "tabletop" photography. Please let me know the good the bad and the ugly. A little PP was done in Elements 11...

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

I was trying out some ideas on "tabletop" photography. Please let me know the good the bad and the ugly. A little PP was done in Elements 11

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Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Very hard to get impact or even interest into this type of shot but a s technical exercise its worked. Well focused and pleasing composition. Just not one to get the folks whooping and a hollerin'.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Billyspad wrote:

Very hard to get impact or even interest into this type of shot but a s technical exercise its worked. Well focused and pleasing composition. Just not one to get the folks whooping and a hollerin'.

Billy thanks for your comment, much appreciated. It was basically a technical exercise. I tried a few different angles and exposures.
So i guess i can forget about this hanging in the Met in NYC. LOL

Tom DePuy Loc: Waxhaw, N.C.

only thing I might do differently is maybe leave a little more room to the left of the keys and a little less to right side....just seems to be heavy on the left side.. with all the keys...just my two-cents.. :)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

NJFrank wrote:

I was trying out some ideas on "tabletop" photography. Please let me know the good the bad and the ugly. A little PP was done in Elements 11

Hi, NJ,
I like the arrangement.Puts me in mind of what Wm. Harnette would paint today.
If anything, I'd suggest it's a touch underexposed... But it's a creative call only you can give final word on.

By the bye,
I've spent a lot of time in the Pine Barrens. Know the area?

Dave

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

Because you took this slightly above and from the front with the lens angled down and with a very shallow DOF, the focus is tack sharp on the coins in front but not so on the key, clip and flashlight (?) at the back. If this had been taken from directly above, it might have been sharp throughout. The only way to correct it--as far I as I understand--is a smaller aperture to increase DOF, focus stacking or using a tilt shift lens.

dansmith Loc: Southwest Alberta Canada

..Like the arrangement, gives the illusion of randomness. I would have liked a bit more definition in the black objects. Focus does trail off somewhat toward the top key, doesn't bother me a lot. More light would give unwanted harsh shadows and perhaps hard to control unwanted glare from the light metal bits.
Nice work on a subject that is harder to photograph than one would think.

10MPlayer Loc: California

How about shooting it from a low angle instead of looking straight down? It would give it some feeling of 3 dimensionality.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Tom DePuy wrote:

only thing I might do differently is maybe leave a little more room to the left of the keys and a little less to right side....just seems to be heavy on the left side.. with all the keys...just my two-cents.. :)

Actually it was four cents. :-) I did want to look random, thanks for your comments

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Uuglypher wrote:

Hi, NJ,
I like the arrangement.Puts me in mind of what Wm. Harnette would paint today.
If anything, I'd suggest it's a touch underexposed... But it's a creative call only you can give final word on.

By the bye,
I've spent a lot of time in the Pine Barrens. Know the area?

Dave

Thanks for looking and commenting. Been a long while since i was last in the pine barrens. It is about an hour and half from me.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

doduce wrote:

Because you took this slightly above and from the front with the lens angled down and with a very shallow DOF, the focus is tack sharp on the coins in front but not so on the key, clip and flashlight (?) at the back. If this had been taken from directly above, it might have been sharp throughout. The only way to correct it--as far I as I understand--is a smaller aperture to increase DOF, focus stacking or using a tilt shift lens.

I tried shooting this from several angles I didn't care for a straight down shot. I appreciate your looking and making your observations.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

dansmith wrote:

..Like the arrangement, gives the illusion of randomness. I would have liked a bit more definition in the black objects. Focus does trail off somewhat toward the top key, doesn't bother me a lot. More light would give unwanted harsh shadows and perhaps hard to control unwanted glare from the light metal bits.
Nice work on a subject that is harder to photograph than one would think.

That is what it is an illusion. I moved the keys to be facing in opposite directions. One of the things i tried was not only direct angles for the shot, but different amounts of lighting and how the light was angled. The lighting was a off the the camera and over at about 1/4 power.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

10MPlayer wrote:

How about shooting it from a low angle instead of looking straight down? It would give it some feeling of 3 dimensionality.

I tried that with the lighting to give it more "pop" as oppose to the camera angle, but that is an option that I could try.

Nightski

I like the arrangement. It looks like the contents of a mans pocket were deposited on a table when he got home. I think it is very successful in that respect. You kept it real. Everything is sharp and properly exposed. I really like the wood background. I like the rich wood grain. It's very masculine.

Lynn L Loc: Northern IL

NJFrank wrote:

I was trying out some ideas on "tabletop" photography. Please let me know the good the bad and the ugly. A little PP was done in Elements 11

Everyone else has covered thing quite well. The only thing that bothers me is that the top of the image is not really sharp. It looks like the camera was not level with the table top. The bottom is tack sharp and the top of the camera was tilted up a tad. Maybe you wanted it that way. In my case, I've done this many times when I was trying to shoot hand held.