Critique Festive still life - comments welcome

mjkent

mjkent

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I was messing around with a few Christmassy items and thought I'd have a go at a similar image I saw in a magazine. I'm pleased with how it came out as it was my first attempt at this type of picture. But I welcome any comments and critique... Thanks for looking.
760D 50mm f2.2
RebeccaKent.jpeg
 
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mjkent said:
I was messing around with a few Christmassy items and thought I'd have a go at a similar image I saw in a magazine. I'm pleased with how it came out as it was my first attempt at this type of picture. But I welcome any comments and critique... Thanks for looking.
760D 50mm f2.2
Click to expand...
RebeccaKent.jpeg
 
Hiya.
Yes I too would have been pleased with this. You captured the mood very well. I am no expert at all. If it was mine I would be trying to get some side lighting across the subjects and maybe a bit sharper with dof. I know it's hard as you want the bokeh.

Well done.

Gaz
 
As above, what was your camera settings ? All this info helps.
 
Shot in manual
50mm
F2.2
1/3s
ISO 100

Unfortunately I had a small space to work in. I would have liked a bigger distance between the mug and the tree lights behind so that maybe I could have stopped down a bit from f2.2 and still had a decent bokeh.
 
Nicely composed arrangement, but a few obervations:
  • The depth of field is far too shallow picking up only the edge of the second mice pie and part of the pine cone
  • The framing is rather tight, more space at the left, right and the bottom would improve the result
  • The foreground subjects seem a little underexposed, a touch of fill light would lift the result without affecting the background and reduce the shadow falling across the front of the arrangement
 
Thanks Alistair. I agree with what you say. Think the main problem was the lack of space I had to work in. I'll be sure to give it another go with a bit of flash, just to see how it looks.
 
mjkent said:
Thanks Alistair. I agree with what you say. Think the main problem was the lack of space I had to work in. I'll be sure to give it another go with a bit of flash, just to see how it looks.
Click to expand...
You could open-up the lens a bit, this will compromise the bokeh ball shape but I think the overall image will be better for it - you could try shaping the highlights creatively - http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh/
 
I always ask myself "why would this be on the table" before placing a prop in any still life...

this shot to me, apart from the problem of it being soft, is flawed by having the pine cone on there... personally, I've never sat down to a mug of coffee, a couple of mince pies and a nice crunchy pine-cone. Strangely, I don't actually find the holly quite as irritating, despite it not being edible - perhaps as it's often added to plates of christmas snacks - though not often in quite the way you have.

Either make it a "food shot", keeping the props to either a "plate setting" or an "assembling the snack" kind of shot, OR make it "an assemblage of christmasey feeling impedimenta" - then you can weigh in with the pinecones, and wesselcups and all the rest of that sort of stuff.

I do like the OOF backgound effect, though I wonder if the blue is a little overpowering - maybe reds/greens/golds might have not jarred quite as much.
 
To be honest, that is a food question! I was reading a photography magazine and saw the composition there. I just tried to recreate it but now that you mention it, it is a bit odd lol. Something for me to bear in mind when i attempt something similar again. My wife wanted blue lights, so we got blue lights. Thanks for your input.
 
It's something I bang on about in my crit. of nearly every still life shot to be honest... for me, to make a still life shot truly succesful, it should be like a single frame from a movie, that tells the story of how everything got there.

I've typed this so many times now, but a good way to make something "hang together" is not to start with a pile of props and throw them together in an appealing geometric pattern - but to start by "writing a short story"... in this case, for me it'd be something like this....

"Got back in after walking the dog this morning in the rain, drenched and cold, so I fancied something to warm me up - a nice mug of coffee, with a splash of "something stronger" in there... and, as I waited for the kettle to boil, I noticed my better half had made/sourced mince pies... don't mind if I do... Right couple of them on the plate as well, off we go, feet up in front of the fire with the Christmas Tree twinkling away in the corner..."

it kind of writes itself as to what the composition would be... plate, couple of mince pies (one whole, other with a bite out of it), crumbs on the table (not the plate) and the mug with steam rising (that can be tough in itself...)
 
To me, the mug grates more than the holly! I would have used a glass of something rather than a "christmassy" mug to convey a sense of christmas. Maybe a nice bone china cup and saucer as well. As said above, it seems very soft too.
 
TheBigYin said:
It's something I bang on about in my crit. of nearly every still life shot to be honest... for me, to make a still life shot truly succesful, it should be like a single frame from a movie, that tells the story of how everything got there.

I've typed this so many times now, but a good way to make something "hang together" is not to start with a pile of props and throw them together in an appealing geometric pattern - but to start by "writing a short story"... in this case, for me it'd be something like this....

"Got back in after walking the dog this morning in the rain, drenched and cold, so I fancied something to warm me up - a nice mug of coffee, with a splash of "something stronger" in there... and, as I waited for the kettle to boil, I noticed my better half had made/sourced mince pies... don't mind if I do... Right couple of them on the plate as well, off we go, feet up in front of the fire with the Christmas Tree twinkling away in the corner..."

it kind of writes itself as to what the composition would be... plate, couple of mince pies (one whole, other with a bite out of it), crumbs on the table (not the plate) and the mug with steam rising (that can be tough in itself...)
Click to expand...
Nice little story, reminds me of myself ;). Nice neat little suggestion, for making an arrangement to be shot.
 
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