Point of Interest

After shooting my BMW die cast toy car for the last couple of weeks (the post can be found here and here), I decided that I should start shooting something else. Again, flickr has become my source of inspiration. I started to browse through flickr to find what image should I take. Inspired by one of the picture I found, I decided to shoot something from my daily use.. Spoon and fork.

I always love the idea on how normal simple stuff like spoon and fork becomes very interesting photograph if you compose and lit it correctly. That's why I'm so excited to start this 'project'. I started by arranging my spoon and fork so that it would look nice. After a few try, I decided that I will cross the spoon and the fork together.

Still using my Nikon D40 camera and a Nikon SB-20 as my light source, I lit the spoon and fork using a bare flash. The result? Not good. Since spoon and fork are very reflective, I got a hot spot on one part of the spoon while the rest are dark. I need more diffused light. That's when I decide to make a light box.

It's All About See-ing the Light

This was from an experience that I've got while shooting for people going on vacations to Sydney. Surely, this was one of my most interesting assignments that I ever had. So basically, I had to tag along to places where these guys were visiting and try to create some decent pictures for them. There were several places that they've visited but Darling Harbour was the memorable one, at least for me. It was late in the afternoon where the sun was going down and the place was in the shade.
This in turn created several problems for taking a photograph:
Firstly, the pictures will be flat (meaning lacking in contrast and colors as well).
Secondly, it is not easy to take good photographs especially when you are at a location (tourist places)  where you are surrounded by lots of people  buzzing around (thinking of how to pose them, camera setting, compositions, trying to remove distracting elements from your picture, worrying that your gear could get stolen, etc2).

Don't go and snap Pictures Instead Create them

I'd like to share my experiences and thoughts that I have when taking a photograph. Alright let me start by discussing on what elements would make a good photograph? Well I think there are 3 important elements in creating a good photograph. The three elements are composition, lighting, and lastly capturing the moment (or setting the mood).