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Kristina_Krause

A Roll of the Dice

A Roll of the Dice
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Canon EOS REBEL T2i

settings

Aperture f/4.0 ISO 200 Shutter 1/80

upload_date

Jan, 2014

Views

400

Likes

+33

Awards

Staff Winter Selection 2015

Outstanding Creativity

+19

Superb Composition

+13

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Exceptional Contrast

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I often use my kitchen as a makeshift studio, which is where I created this image.

Time

Generally, where I live there's wonderful strong, angled light in the morning that streams into my kitchen, and I try to take advantage of that.

Lighting

People often ask me about how I get my dark backgrounds. When I'm shooting a subject using strong, angled light, the background is often in deep shade. I'll often accentuate that shade by pushing the exposure compensation setting on my camera into the negative numbers. Sometimes I also use a dark background. This image was created using all three of these features.

Equipment

I used a Canon T2i mounted on a tripod, and I used a 24-70 mm Canon "L" series lens.

Inspiration

My mother used to collect dice, any kind of dice. The last time I visited her, she gave me a large jar of dice to take home with me, and every time I see it on my shelf, it reminds me of my mother. One day, I dumped some of them out onto the kitchen table and was captivated by the way the light hit them, resulting in this image. They way light hits a subject can often stop me in my tracks, and I have to drop everything and reach for my camera. As for the subject matter, while I don't believe that life is just a random roll of the dice, this image also reminds me that, like a roll of the dice, everything can change quickly from one moment to the next, so I try to make the most of each moment while I can. One of my favorite writers, Annie Dillard, sums up my photographic aesthetic when she says "....beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there." I try to be there with my camera in hand.

Editing

I often use Photoshop (my current version is CS5) and Photoshop Elements, or a combination of both. Generally, I don't do a lot of heavy editing. Any post-processing I do is mainly limited to cropping, adjusting contrast, exposure, or sharpness. Since I shoot mainly black and white images, I've also begun using Silver Efex Pro 2, a plugin for Photoshop that Google has made available for free, although I didn't use Silver Efex for this particular image.

In my camera bag

My camera and I have become joined at the hip, so I always have my Canon T2i with me. My 24-70mm lens is my go-to lens, although I love playing with my macro lens as well. This, plus a tripod, is the equipment I use for most still life shots like this one. I do have a 70-200mm "L" series Canon lens for when I'm outdoors, capturing people or the local wildlife.

Feedback

As I said, many people ask me how I get the dark backgrounds in many of my shots. The key, for me, is taking advantage of strong, angled light, whether it's natural or artificial lighting. The exposure compensation feature in my camera is also a huge factor in creating darker backgrounds, but it is more effective when shooting a subject in strong light with an already shaded background. However, I will also shoot subjects using a black background such as a large piece of black cardboard, or even one of my husband's black t-shirts. The fun is in experimenting until you get the results you want. Ultimately, it's all about paying attention to how light illuminates a subject and how that light can transform ordinary objects into extraordinary images.

See more amazing photos, follow Kristina_Krause

Kristina_Krause

Kristina_Krause

A Roll of the Dice

A Roll of the Dice

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Kristina_Krause

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