critique please http://flickr.com/photos/martini2005/1459154548/?

Question

ok im not a great product shotter im the first to admit it, what i do do well is another area of photography, this image was made with 2 tungsten 500 watt lights, gelled to 5600k, hard light - one key one as fill. did i do ok? had a few greek reds first.......

so i would appreciate critique on the following: no PS proformed except auto levels

so rate my:

composition, exposure, white balance etc

many thanks

P.S. its dodgy if you print it or zoom in cause its watermarked

awesome Jim many thanks

a

Answer 1

Okay. Here's my take.

First, if the leaf count is correct for the plants, you can simplify the composition by smoking some. Not that the composition is all that bad.

Lighting.

I faked an approach to lighting in photoshop. I see it as having 3 lighting zones. My rework is at http://picasaweb.google.com/Vance.Lear/Antoni/photo?authkey=4mkMn9u6BS8#5115689717465004274

I know it is pressumptive of me to just modify your image, but it was the only way to make anything I write make sense.

Basically, I adjusted the image as if you had used a spot on the currency and reduced exposure by about 3/4 stops. I would diffuse the spot to soften the edge shadows on the bills. A scrim near the bills would work.

To light the plants, I simulated using a bounce to reflect the light from the spot back onto the plants.

For that background, I simulated using the other light behind the plants as a flood and reduced the exposure by about a stop.

It's only one interpretation, but it works.

I blurred the plants to simulate using a shallower depth of field, which definitely focusses attention on the money, which is the central theme, but leaves the plants identifiable enough to make the intended (?) concept of money and the source of profits work.

This really isn't a product shot. It's more like an editorial shot. I can see it as an establishing shot accompanying an editorial or feature story. Not bad, not bad at all.

Anyway, there are many different interpretations of the shot that could be done.

What I did to your image is not to show what to do with photoshop, which is why the is no explanation of what was done. You and I, and most of us, like to get it as right in the camera as we can. The photoshop rework was to show another way your setup could have been lit and overcome what I saw as weaknesses in technique.

An aside on the lighting. I think you were looking to get the correct exposure as if off a gray card, but weren't thinking about how to use the lighting to make the best statement. You get to be a Photon God in the studio. Make the pesky things bow to your Omnipotent Will!

Correct exposure is always assumed in a studio, but that is not the same as the correct lighting!

Vance

Answer 2

Are those plants what I think they are? (I just had to ask...not relevant to my comments)

Technically, everything seems fine, but it seems to be lacking artistically. I think that the over all washed out appearance Jim mentioned is more just a blandness (is that a word?) that the picture seems to have.

There's not really much plant in the photo. One whole plant and two other partial plants cut off at the sides of the photos. The plant you do see is kind of weak and skimpy looking. I think a more mature, full plant (or many little ones like this placed more closely together) would fill the frame more. All that dead space (the white background) isn't helping you here. If a more mature plant or more plants aren't available to you, then I would suggest a tighter shot (that is zoom in more on the plant so it fills your frame more. And yes, get those plastic pots out of that shot.

Ok, so in conclusion, get that money into a shot full of the plants (whether it be more plants or just a close-up of what you have). It will be much more visually stimulating and get you where you are trying to go here.

Answer 3

No major quibbles ... except for the "auto levels" thing.

I downloaded it and did a Levels adjustment - just in the midtones - and got richer color, better density. Your black and white points were already fine, but the overall image seemed a little washed out.

Seems to me, the black plastic pots are a little out of sync with the idea of "money tree." Wouldn't it be neat if the plants were in some kind of gold or terracotta containers?

Answer 4

I'd like to see a series on this as they grow. Did you ever see a magazine called "High Times"? They had lots of nice plant photography. For some reason, not much critique.....