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Don't ask why the title of this photo is "Assassinate." It's a really long story. And not the kind that's funny, just the kind that makes you say "I wish I hadn't asked why the title of that photo is 'Assassinate.'"
Anyway, I was playing around with different directions and distances of light. I found that when the light source is further away from the subject, the shadows are more defined. Not wanting too many harsh shadows that would make the photo too busy (and distract from the simplicity that is one of the features of the Motionless set), I opted for one of the shots that had the light source closer.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/10
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55mm
Tripod
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. If I could change one thing, I would have made the light a little more directional from the side. The image could use slightly more contrast. And the DoF is a little shallower than I wanted, but that's not too distracting.
I'm really enjoying still life. Though my kit lens isn't prime, I have a hard time seeing a huge improvement in sharpness and optical quality. Also, I like to use my kit lens because it can focus MUCH closer than my Dad's 50mm and 85mm primes can. Until I find a way around this, I'll probably be using my kit lens for Motionless photos more often.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/9
Shutter Speed: 0.8 seconds
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55 mm
Tripod
I like the texture of this shot, and I also like the simple background provided by shooting on white paper.
When I get enough photos in my Motionless series, I may do a mosaic. I think it would look good because the photos would be relatively uniform.
My dad owns an f/1.4 50mm EF lens, and recently told me that prime lenses get clearer and sharper photos than zooms. I wanted to shoot some still life photos, so I decided this would be a good time to try a prime—I already had lots of control over lighting, subject, etc. so I figured I wouldn't be needing to zoom to make adjustments in framing and stuff.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/10
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 50 mm
Tripod
Well, he was right. Though I'm very happy with my kit 18-55, and I think it gets really good results, the 50mm is sharper. Noticeably so.
After lots of experimentation with different apertures and compositions, I decided I like this one best. The DoF isn't paper thin, but the entire lock is not in focus. Also, the centered composition made this photo a good candidate for my Motionless series, and after applying the effect in Photoshop, I liked how it fit. The only thing was that since I had white background, I had to dial down the vignette opacity quite a bit to avoid it looking too harsh.
I've started a new series on Flickr, called "Motionless." It features still life photos in monochrome. To help the photos feel more like they are part of a set, they all have a subtle lilac tint and a vignette. For this reason, I suspect most (if not all) of them will be center-composed, but I can't be sure yet as I haven't taken more than one so far. Here's the first.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 5 seconds
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 29 mm
Tripod
I think I may finally have fixed the problem I was having with terrible compositions. This one may be slightly boring (centered subject), but it's not breaking a bunch of rules at least, and there are no obnoxious lines leading away from the focus.
I'm pretty excited for this set to grow. I'm hoping to really expand my horizons here in still-life photography, monochrome photography, and composition.
And don't worry: no more pottery still-lifes :) And I won't be tracking the set on this blog, so you'll still see a variety of photography types.
