Sunday, January 6, 2013

January 3: Happy Birthday

While watching the classic film Blow-Up (1966) about a London photographer who may or may not have witnessed a murder I decided to do a late night photo shoot. Mind you this was 10:30pm at night and I was already set to go to bed. I got up off the couch and unpacked my new tripod and went out in to the kitchen where I eyeballed the birthday cake that was left over from the day before.

I put my 50mm f/1.4 Pentax and lit a candle and started shooting. The above picture was the best of the bunch. The shot was at f/3.5 I probably could have gone up to 7.1 to add a little bit more depth of field. I really enjoy the picture but notice that the composition is a little plain. It was late and I was more interested in getting a picture in low light and seeing what would come of it with the candle lit. The plate, to me, is centered too much in the middle of the frame to be completely effective. I could have shot it from further up, with me standing on the chair or the plate on a lower surface. The kit lens (18-55) would have provided more flexibility to zoom in and block out more of the table. I could have also added a black cloth to make the cake more of a focal point.

 I stayed with the 50mm f/1.4 because its a better lens and gives a sharper image. The only post-processing aspect that I'm not happy with is the candle. Its too blown out for me. I could be wrong and it could be a good picture with it as is. I know the burn tool in PS CS5 can help, maybe, but I'll keep learning.

And here is the "B" side

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