This month I will explain some of the processes involved in the photo of the month.
I borrowed my young sons pair of shiny silver magnets, feeling their smoothness I imagined them being photographed on a reflective surface. The silvery appearance needed to dominate. Placing them on a black high gloss acrylic surface would reflect their silver finish but still give contrast to the image. To aid in the composition they needed to be placed of centre, perhaps using the rule of thirds. I had a very clear idea in my head as to what the final image would look like.
I first tried to photograph them indoors, bouncing my flash off the ceiling to soften the light. I found it too hard to control the reflections and the reflections that were happening in the magnets and in the black acrylic just did not enhance the image.
The sun was almost setting outside and the light was quite soft so I thought I would try outside. Picking a spot under our slatted pergola, I tried a number of angles finally settling on the above composition. The lines produced by the illumination from the blue sky filtering through the wooden slats added greatly to the overall image. I chose an aperture that would just blur the reflections and used a large silver reflector to fill in the shadows and enhance the silver finish on the magnets.
100mm macro lens, f11, 0.7sec
Hey mate, great blog.
you must have been using a tripod at 0.7 seconds (maths is failing me as to what fraction this shutter speed equates to); what tripod do you use / would you recommend for entry level photographers?
I use a Gitzo GT2541EX with a Really Right Stuff ball head, great tripod, folds up quite small. I also have a couple of Manfrotto tripods. I would recommend getting the best tripod you can afford as it will last you many years. Perhaps if you are on a limited budget a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs with a Manfrotto 488 Midi Ball Head, I would not go much cheaper. 0.7 is 7/10th of a second.