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darklighthouse

Sometimes it's time . . .

As the weekend rolls in and the snow accumulates, it might be time for . . . well you know ;-)

As the weekend rolls in and the snow accumulates, it might be time for . . . well you know ;-)
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Jan, 2022

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Awards

Winner in Shotglasses Photo Challenge

Peer Award

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

Emotions

Impressed

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was take at my home studio. I created his image specifically for the shotglasses challenge. The lighting was a single strobe with no light modifiers.

Time

The image was taken just before 6pm. Because this was taken inside, the time of day really is not important.

Lighting

To capture this image, I first set up the items seen in the picture. I tried several different combinations, but decided this was the most compelling. The lighting was provided by a single strobe located above the scene, just left of the camera. The power on the strobe was adjusted to work with the exposure settings of the camera. Camera settings were: ISO 400, 1/160s, F/16, 70mm focal length (see equipment description below). The strobe was a Profoto B10, but any strobe would have been fine. The strobe used no light modifiers.

Equipment

For this photo, I used a Canon R6, with a 28-70mm f/2 lens. The camera was mounted on a tripod. The lens was set to 70mm. The aperture was set to f/16 to ensure that the entire scene would be in sharp focus. The background and table top for the picture were two Duo Boards from VflatWorld. I used these boards to create a dark marble-like table top and a wood background. Although I used the Duo Boards, the background and table top could be made from any materials (e.g., pieces of tile or scrap wall paneling from the local home store). I used a tripod for this shot for convenience and to ensure that the framing remained the same as I tried different configurations of the items in the photo.

Inspiration

When I saw the challenge, I instantly thought about creating a scene using a bottle of tequila, shotglasses, lime and salt.. Yes, you can probably tell that I may have seen these items before ;-) to sell the shot I used one shot glass with tequila ready to go and one upside down the table top with a little salt stuck to the side, salt on the table, and a used lime slice beside the glass - all to give the scene the look of a real situation. I love creating scenes like this and it is a ton of fun to figure out what sells and then capture it in a compelling way!!

Editing

Some post-processing was done to tweak the shadows and color balance. But most importantly, I pumped up the contrast (particularly in the mid-tones) to give the image a bit of an edgy look that draws the eyes in. I also created a bit of a vignette to draw the eyes to the shot glass in the middle of the scene. Editing was done in Lightroom.

In my camera bag

I am a Canon shooter and have recently moved from DSLRs to mirrorless. This shot was taken with a Conon EOS R6 and an RF 28-70mm f/2 zoom mens. For shots like this (i.e., staged and done inside), I typically use a tripod and one or more flashes (I use Profoto flashes, but any flashes will work just fine). Choice of lenses for this type of shot are not too critical, as I used a small aperture to ensure the whole scene was sharp in focus.

Feedback

For this kind of shot, where you are featuring objects versus people and you want to create a sense that the scene is real, it is important to play around with the configuration of the items a bit and try different configurations of objects, positioning of the camera, and lighting. Additionally, a bit of contrast makes the image more visually interesting, while the vignette draws the eyes to the center of the frame. Lastly, for this kind of shot, glassware must be clean (e.g., no dust, unintended smudges, fingerprints. etc.). And details are are important (e.g., used lime in this scene, salt on the glass). Most of all, let you mind go, be creative with the shot, and have fun!

See more amazing photos, follow darklighthouse

darklighthouse

darklighthouse

Sometimes it's time . . .

As the weekend rolls in and the snow accumulates, it might be time for . . . well you know ;-)

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow darklighthouse

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