weekly AvidPessimist's 52 - 2016

what about this? hope you don't mind I had a go editing your earlier shot.

I've cloned to get more space to the left and the top and cropped the table at the bottom, along with some tweaking of the levels - the bright spots on the bottle and front of the label.
Also I had tweaked the horizontal perspective and rotated a little to straighten everything up.

24190347861_eca2050d07_o-1.jpg

Obviously I've not had the original to work on, it's not perfect still and personally I think you are right trying to get the shot in camera more how you want it than relying heavily on editing afterwards, but I think this is the sort of thing I'd persionally be aiming for. Others might have their own take on it though. And of course its your photo, so you're the one that ultimately you have to please ;)

....sometimes though I think you get to a point where you should just leave things and move on to the next challenge, taking what you've learned into that. I know that I've let myself get too demoralised over things not turning out just like I want it to all too often!

of the post where you show your setup I am preferring the second one by the way :)
 
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siblingchris said:
what about this? hope you don't mind I had a go editing your earlier shot.

I've cloned to get more space to the left and the top and cropped the table at the bottom, along with some tweaking of the levels - the bright spots on the bottle and front of the label.
Also I had tweaked the horizontal perspective and rotated a little to straighten everything up.

View attachment 54023

Obviously I've not had the original to work on, it's not perfect still and personally I think you are right trying to get the shot in camera more how you want it than relying heavily on editing afterwards, but I think this is the sort of thing I'd persionally be aiming for. Others might have their own take on it though. And of course its your photo, so you're the one that ultimately you have to please ;)
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Totally allowed to edit my images, you're doing me a favour!!! Felt rude asking you to do this but when you had such solid ideas before I was so close to asking:LOL: Totally like this approach to it just the label needs to be full name so my bad, problem is that I've taken that setup down and moved everything around. We're both visualising something similar thats for sure, although the main reason I'm not using PS is because my old laptop has just turned to junk and is close to unusable. Cheers for doing this and if you want some more work I'll send the raw file;););)

Oscar
 
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After some shots with two larger sources of lighting I realised I was shooting for the wrong bottle. Had it been a new champagne bottle then maybe that is what would have fitted it nicely but I was shooting a tatty 52 year old bottle. This image was made with the swedish lights clamped to a metre ruler with two layers of tracing paper covering it, its in the direction that I wanted and agreed I wanted to with @siblingchris but whilst getting excited about lights was actually moving away from. Thoughts people? Needs a little edit to get rid of that lens flare but I'll get round to it.


Gevrey Chambertin retake

Oscar
 
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I really like the original shot you posted in the images thread. Can't help with lighting tips - I just keep taking photos until it looks right!
 
Toothie said:
I really like the original shot you posted in the images thread. Can't help with lighting tips - I just keep taking photos until it looks right!
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Yeah I agree, I like the original. I also like this one. I think this has become such a tangent I've forgotten what I wanted to achieve and lost the vision :banghead:. I'll approach this tomorrow with a rested mind.

Oscar
 
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AvidPessimist said:
Yeah I agree, I like the original. I also like this one. I think this has become such a tangent I've forgotten what I wanted to achieve and lost the vision :banghead:. I'll approach this tomorrow with a rested mind.

Oscar
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It is really easy to get caught up in stuff and lose perspective - just go back to the beginning and see what happens - I try not to over complicate my photography :)
 
I like the re-taken Buddha shot Oscar, especially when the distracting blinds are removed from the image. Perhaps a bit more space to let it breathe around the candles and the background light would have helped it a little, but a nice image all the same. Well done.

David
 
Metal : Best of the bunch for me is the 3rd shot, my better half loves Buddha's so I have to like them also :)

Old : The 2nd bottle pic I like, might be just me but the shadow going backwards is the reason why. :banana:
 
Sorry for the slow replies, didn't realise I had comments!

davys said:
I like the re-taken Buddha shot Oscar, especially when the distracting blinds are removed from the image. Perhaps a bit more space to let it breathe around the candles and the background light would have helped it a little, but a nice image all the same. Well done.

David
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Cheers David for the kind comments. Totally get what you mean about room to breathe it was all shot on a windowsill with an inch being taken up by the blinds. I'm a fan of the re-take although a few things I may revisit if I get bored at some time with it. Still got my setup from the bottle photo that may be used for this.

Mrjol said:
Metal : Best of the bunch for me is the 3rd shot, my better half loves Buddha's so I have to like them also :)

Old : The 2nd bottle pic I like, might be just me but the shadow going backwards is the reason why. :banana:
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Hey Gary, thank you for your comments. Yes the 3rd is my favourite as well, although a little sharpen wouldn't go a miss.

I like the shadow and I played around with it on an other photo on my flickr here

Jon.P.73 said:
Like the interpretation but can imagine not easy to light

I actually like the original image but could be improved with more space above the bottle (cropped from the bottom ?) a slight CCW rotation and some sharper focus
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Hi Jon, the end result is suppose to be an improvement of the first as I liked the feel; however it feels everyone is rating them as different images? :thinking:

susiejb said:
Hi there ....well done fot having so much perseverance ....glad it's not just me that has a hundred attempts at one shot :)
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The whole process from start to finish took 10 hours and 30 minutes so yes. Perseverance is key. I am extremely happy of the not so finished but end result??? A little editing needs to happen but other than that its done!

Thanks all,
Oscar
 
I think the lighting is defintely better in the shot on post #44. Glad to read Allan's advice as I'm hoping to be playing with lighting this year and have no idea where to start really (other than reading the strobist 101).
 
LC2 said:
I think the lighting is defintely better in the shot on post #44. Glad to read Allan's advice as I'm hoping to be playing with lighting this year and have no idea where to start really (other than reading the strobist 101).
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Cheers Tim! I like that one best as well!

Oscar
 
Hi Oscar. The thing I like best about Old is your tenacity and enthusiasm. I'm with you so have read the entire thread over - such useful advice so thanks for helping me learn too.
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
Hello and welcome, solid start to your challenge.
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Thank you Mandy!

Carl Ayling said:
Hi Oscar. The thing I like best about Old is your tenacity and enthusiasm. I'm with you so have read the entire thread over - such useful advice so thanks for helping me learn too.
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Hey Carl,

Cheers! Yeah I wanted a desired look and wasn't bothered about the work required to get it! Hope this information was useful for you!

Oscar
 
The warmth of colour in the Buddha shots is good
I quite like the dusty retake of the bottle.
 
Hi Oscar,
Liking the third option for you Buddha. Good lighting and a cleaner BG.
The wine looks very old and hits the theme perfectly. I like your final edit. I can't add much to the lighting side of things though.
 
Hi Oscar... the buddha's good, although a challenge to get candle flame to light a subject - you've done well.

The bottle is a really interesting challenge, especially - as you noticed - because it's old and not superbly clean :) In a way it's really simple - one subject, one light. How hard can that be? But the positioning in frame of the subject, the amount of negative space, the position of the light, and the type of lighting itself all completely change the image from one capture to the next. For what it's worth, I like your final shot the best and I really like the ray of light coming down from above, which really adds something for me.

If you want to develop your understanding of lighting, check out "Light Science & Magic" which is an excellent book on the subject - probably the best and most gripping photography book I've read!

Enjoy your challenge - great start so far.
 
pjm1 said:
Hi Oscar... the buddha's good, although a challenge to get candle flame to light a subject - you've done well.

The bottle is a really interesting challenge, especially - as you noticed - because it's old and not superbly clean :) In a way it's really simple - one subject, one light. How hard can that be? But the positioning in frame of the subject, the amount of negative space, the position of the light, and the type of lighting itself all completely change the image from one capture to the next. For what it's worth, I like your final shot the best and I really like the ray of light coming down from above, which really adds something for me.

If you want to develop your understanding of lighting, check out "Light Science & Magic" which is an excellent book on the subject - probably the best and most gripping photography book I've read!

Enjoy your challenge - great start so far.
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Leebert said:
Hi Oscar,
Liking the third option for you Buddha. Good lighting and a cleaner BG.
The wine looks very old and hits the theme perfectly. I like your final edit. I can't add much to the lighting side of things though.
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Thanks guys!
Oscar
 
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