Mortar and Pestle
Still life with mortar and pestle along with some olive oil, herbs, nuts, etc.
Still life with mortar and pestle along with some olive oil, herbs, nuts, etc.
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Mar, 2016Views
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Awards
People's Choice in Veggies Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken at my home in Greenock which sits on the Clyde Estuary about 25 miles west of Glasgow on Scotland's west coast. I set up the scene on my kitchen table.Time
The shot was taken around 11.00am on March 8th, back in 2016.Lighting
The lighting for this shot was simply the light coming through the kitchen window and door. It was mid to late morning and for this shot I wanted a natural looking light and avoid using flash(s). The light entering the room looked good enough but I did have the exposure set to 1 sec.Equipment
The equipment used for this shot was my Nikon D90 which I had sitting on a Giottos tripod with a Manfrotto ball head. The lens was a Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 set at 36mm, f14. The exposure time was 1 sec. The tripod was essential as the shutter speed was 1 sec and the camera was set to IR remote shutter to prevent shake. The scene was set on my kitchen table with a black foam board as the background.Inspiration
I had recently taken a few still life shots and was keen to take a shot that incorporated our new mortar and pestle. I had in my mind the mortar and pestle along with some fresh herbs, peppercorns, nuts etc. This was the result.Editing
For post processing I used both Lightroom and Photoshop. I started in lightroom and did some split toning and a little clarity and contrast work. I then exported into photoshop where I added a texture mainly for the background. Back into lightroom for a little tone processing and slight sharpening.In my camera bag
At the time I took this shot I would have had the Nikon D90, the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens, my 18-105mm kit lens, my SB700 Nikkor flash, my Black Rapid strap. Since then I have now purchased a Nikon D850 and I have traded in my Nikkor 24-70mm lens for the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 G2 lens as this lens has fantastic image stabilisation for hand held shots whereas the Nikkor lens didn't have any VR at all. I also have the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 G2 lens with it's excellent image stabilisation for hand held shots. Both Tamron lenses have great image quality.Feedback
I find that for many types of still life shots the layout of items to be shot are adjusted many times with items also being added and removed. I didn't want to use flash in this shot but if I couldn't get what I wanted I would have used flash(s). Perhaps what I'm trying to say is leave all your options open and don't restrict yourself from getting the result you initially had in your head. Try various layouts, lighting, aspect ratios and post processing techniques.You may just find you come up with a better shot than you first envisaged.
