Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective

I guess it is all in how you care to look at things, but at times it felt like I lost all perspective on my last Photoshop assignment.  The last step, printing, was particularly trying.  Here is the print lurking harmlessly on the screen in the print queue:

What could go wrong? a screenshot

Looks great!  what could possibly go wrong? Well, let’s start with the major problem.  The printer didn’t like the paper, lovely little streaky lines called “head strike”  So, that was a question of changing the settings on the printer.  The other problem, well, that was a bit more subtle, it just didn’t look right.  To me this image was a lot about the light, and it just was’t working.  So back to Photoshop:

This is what two and a half hours of my life looks like.

It took a total of two and a half hours to get my print to look the way I wanted.  Had I lost all perspective? Yeah, probably.  Here is my defense.  It took me hours to make this photograph.  I wasn’t going to settle for an “OK” print.

So, here is the final, final photo I promise:

The winning image

Also, as I wrote in a previous blog, this image was entered in a weekly photo competition at my camera club.  I won an honorable mention.  If you are curious to see what I was up against here is a glimpse, you will have to scroll down a bit to see all the images. It is a talented pool of photographers, so any win is a major win for me.

What do you think, had I lost my mind perspective?  And thank you if you have been following me on this journey, I will stop now.

Cheers!

 

Six Hundred Abandoned Photos

In my food photography project for Photoshop class, I have been through a lot of photos and a lot of edits.  My virtual trash bin is full to overflowing.  But I am finished with the project, six hundred photos later.  Here are some of the photos from along the way:

Along the way I have written three other posts, and I would like to thank all of you who commented on any or all of my versions of this project.  In each of the steps along the way, I have found that your comments made me think more about this project and helped me decide what my final vision was for this project.

Here is the final photo:

ISO 400 50mm 0ev f/4 1/100

This version combined the light and dark of other versions.  I also straightened the image a bit.  I also boosted the blue in the tea cups a bit.  If you are a regular reader you know that it took me awhile to get here.  If you are interested the other posts they are available here, here, and here. A version of this photo is available in my Picfair portfolio.

The next step is to turn in a digital copy on Monday and a print on Wednesday.  The final print will be approximately 15×10 on a semi-gloss paper.  I haven’t done any test prints yet, but will probably on Monday.  I’m curious to see how it goes.  The digital version will also be entered in the weekly photography competition at my photo club.  As for the other versions along the way, well except for maybe the top fifteen or so, the rest will be abandoned, relegated to the trash bin.

So, what do you think of my final version? Quite a bit different from where I started.  Feel free to leave a comment about the final version or wish me luck in this week’s competition.

Cheers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Take Three

The WordPress weekly photo challenge asks for a story told in three pictures.  I have three pictures for you.  It is another evolution of my food photography project which is now on it’s third post.  Here are the photos:

ISO 400 50mm 0ev f/4 1/100

ISO 400 50mm 0ev f/4 1/100

ISO 400 50mm 0ev f/4 1/100

These photos were taken as the sun was going down, hence the golden light.  I shot a series of them also in the morning light and they have a much colder feel to them.  The second photo was shot with a piece of black paper in the background to make the steam visible.  The third photo is actually a combination of the first two photos that I created in Photoshop.

First, I started with the two photos in Bridge and went to Photoshop-load as layers.  That opened the two photos in a single layered file in Photoshop.  From there I went to Edit-Auto Align Layers and used the auto function to line up the two photos exactly.  Because I used a tripod and shot them in a sequence, the two photos had already been pretty close, but not exact.  Then with the darker photo on top, I dropped its opacity.  That is how the third photo came to be.

What do you think? Is the hybrid photo your favorite or do you prefer one of the other ones?  I have also changed the composition of the photos again.  Do you like it better or do you prefer something you saw in post one or post two?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks to everyone who has been commenting on this project as I have been working on it.  Once one of my photos is accepted in class, I will probably be making some other adjustments in Photoshop, just to clean it up.

Cheers!

 

 

It’s a fad, but do you like it anyway?

If you look at food advertising, particularly in magazines, I’m guessing you’ve noticed that there are some similarities in what you see.  The current fad is for clean, simple images.  Usually they are simply lit.  Often they convey a sense of casual elegance, an invitation to linger.  I think this trend speaks to something that is pretty basic, the need for community, an opportunity to connect.  Our lives tend to be full and rushed, these ads speak to the desire to slow down and savor.  For my current Photoshop food project I am attempting to capture a bit of that.  My images went through a second round of critique and here are two that came out on top:

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ISO 320 50mm 0ev f/3.5 1/50

If you missed the first round, or just want to look again, you can do so here.

So, they are a bit different from the first round. I simplified the composition, and took a lot of shots because I was working with natural light and wanted to have a lot to choose from.  What do you think of these images? Does one appeal to you more than the other? are there certain elements that you like or dislike?  Do you like this trend in food advertising?  I have to admit that I do.  The problem though with fads, is to still make your own work look original, that can be tricky…

I will be shooting again, and have a few ideas of my own, but I would like to hear what you have to say.

Cheers!

Travel Theme: Romance

It was Valentine’s day this past week, but some of my valentines were out of town therefore it was kind of amusing to me that romance is the theme at Where’s My Backpack?  We don’t really go all out for this holiday in this household, but I do try to do something small for the family.  I was thinking about what I could make for my husband when I stumbled across this cranberry walnut bread over at the blog Notes from Dawn.  I am also working on a food photography project for my Photoshop class, so I took some pictures just to think about the lighting part of the project.  Many of you know that tea is the subject of my project, but here I am using cranberries as test subject:

ISO 1600 50mm 0ev f/2.8 1/60

For me, this photo reinforces my thought that I would like to use natural light for this project.  I dislike the tinges of artificial light that you can see on the strainer.  It was good to do this though, because natural light has been in short supply here lately,  and I am anxious to move along with this project.  I guess I’ll also have to learn something about patience.

The bread was yummy too, that was the other thing I discovered by doing this lighting exercise for my Photoshop class.  Also, I’m no romantic, but it is nice when everyone is back safe and sound at home.

Do you photograph food? what is your take on artificial versus natural light?

Cheers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treasure

Something that changed my life in a lot of ways was living in South Korea.  As a family we have lived a lot of places and traveled as much as possible.  I have a lot of things to remind me of where I have been.  One of the things I am doing in my life now is taking a Photoshop class.  I have a food assignment now and I have been taking test shots to get my ideas together for this project.  Here is one that I shot a few days ago:

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I thought this project would mean more to me if I picked something that represented me.  The mini kimchee pots in the background are from our time in Korea.  The teacups were a gift from my husband when he went to Taiwan.  Tea brings back memories of my time in Asia as well as England and Canada.

The photo above is unedited and was shot using my point and shoot camera. In my next photo shoot for this project I will have reconsidered the background, the lighting, and the staging.  This original shoot includes approximately 300 shots, taken over the course of the day, with two different cameras.  Most of them will end up in the trash can. Right now I am using them to think about what I want to change.

Since I am going to be taking and editing and thinking about this project so much you can see why I chose to shoot something that I treasure.  How about you? do you have something that you photograph over and over because of what it means to you?  What do you think of my test shot? The red tablecloth has to go right?

Cheers!

Food and Photography

I don’t usually photograph food, but I like to give it a try every once in awhile.  I think one of the reasons I never think to photograph food is that I am too busy making it and then getting everyone to the table to eat.  Not that it is all that difficult, but pulling out the camera would just be one more step.

One of the reasons I took these particular food photographs is that I got the recipe from a fellow blogger and I was thinking of writing about it. Judy writes a blog called petit4chocolatier that I look at a lot.  The link that I have included is to the recipe that I gave a try, Pecan Bourbon Breaded Sea Scallops.  One of the things that I enjoy about Judy’s blog is that she takes excellent photos of her creations.  There are several recipes that I have been wanting to try, but New Year’s Eve gave me the opportunity to try the scallops.

For our New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone in the family picked a dish to make.  So with my scallops we had crab cakes, sautéd little red potatoes, and cranberries.  Here are the photos of my scallops:

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ISO 640 50mm 0ev f/6.3 1/15

I have included a before and after the oven photo.  I tweaked the recipe in one way.  Instead of salt I used Old Bay; I do that a lot.  The scallops turned out really well.  I will be back to Judy’s blog for other recipes.  Next time I will try a dessert, the only question is which one….

Cheers!