Wood love
Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this picture the day I discovered my favorite coffee shop. We had just finished a show at the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne, and decided to try the new place. We had heard good things about the shop, named Fortezza Coffee (my mom was a friend of a friend of the owner) and it well lived up to its reputation, glorious coffee! It also helps that it was just downwind of this nifty record store I enjoy ;)Time
It was about midday or so and I was really feeling like a good cup of coffee. I'm a fan of stronger drinks, so ordered a nice macchiato. The presentation was too perfect and the wood tray against the custom wooden table was too good of a shot to pass up, so I just pulled out my phone and captured that moment for my own pleasure.Lighting
This image was actually more of an opportunistic shot, so I set up no lighting. What you see just comes from the natural light through Fortezza's large window and the minimal lighting in the shop itself.Equipment
Honestly I just pulled out my phone and snapped the picture with its built-in camera. My phone is the ubiquitous iPhone 6, which has what I believe to be the overall best smartphone camera on the market.Inspiration
You know, the presentation of the beverage by the baristas was nothing short of perfect, and the materials used in their wares gave my drink a nice, hometown vibe. I used this to my advantage and just took the right shot when the opportunity presented itself.Editing
As far as post-processing goes, my task was rather simple. I merely adjusted the contrast to make the white in the milk and in the actual coffee as pure as possible. Then I sharpened the image slightly so that the grain in the bark of both wooden potions would stand out just a little bit more. Finally, I played around with different coloring a until I decided on just a flat brown tint across the whole image, which really tied together the wood in the table and in the beverage tray, so that they seemed like they could be just two parts of the same piece of wood.In my camera bag
Normally, in my photo bag, I carry a mini tripod I picked up for just a couple bucks at Best Buy, it's nice and compact for shots that I need stability, but if I don't have something to set it on, it's generally better for me to just bring along my full tripod. The camera I carry is a Nikon D3200, with a 55-200 mm zoom lens; I also keep the stock 18-55 mm lens in the bag, but the other one is my go-to for most shots. In addition to this equipment, I generally have my cellphone on me at all times, just in case.Feedback
My advice would be to always keep your eyes open for photographic opportunity, never stop noticing little bits of symmetry and composition in the world around you. Also, it helps to have a good smartphone to take the more opportunistic shots.
