Cocktail for One.

[eL eSs Vee]

Experimenting with a hot light and an idea. I may try again, as it didn't come out quite like I'd envisioned it.

http://sterling-photography.smugmug.com/photos/627202708_LrbLN-XL.jpg

Definitely needs a better background.

[Nikolai]

Lee,
looks awesome (but kinda scary with all those glass shards o_0)! :clap

[eL eSs Vee]

Yeah, I agree. The shards are gone, but I kept the stem. I'm going to redo it, but with some other changes, as well; make it look like it's in a bar, maybe.

[adbsgicom]

Cool idea. I think you could get away with a black background as well.

[DaddyO]

Very nice maybe Lee. I confess I don't get were you are going with this
but I like it none the less. Background is not so bad really and the off
angle at the bottom works nicely with the broken glass and candy orange
as you have it arranged. I also like the just barely OOF to the background.
Lighting is excellent. :thumb :D Cocktail for one. No candy tonight?

[Nikolai]

Cool idea. I think you could get away with a black background as well.
While pure plack BG is a good idea to try (for a clean, commerical like-look) I do like the reverse gradient and the matching color scheme of the straw mat...:thumb

[eL eSs Vee]

Thank you very much, Andrew, DaddyO and Nikolai.

The first couple dozen shots were on a pure black background, but to me it was too plain; I wanted something different. The mat I used was, basically, an afterthough, used for lack of anything else. I picked it up at an art supply store a few months ago.

I have some background ideas for the reshoot, though. Something like a blue spot lighting an opaque background from behind. See Zanotti's post, Tumbling Dice (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=141263). I don't want to copy him, but he's given me a starting point. I'll need to pick up a couple of items, first. It'll also mean adding a strobe back there. Being as this was shot with a hot light, blue can be accomplished by simply using the current white balance. It'll also change the entire dynamics of the glass and base.

I liked that off-angle, too, DaddyO. The base is a very dark, polished marble floor tile placed atop the black felt background. The idea behind this is, mainly, to take an idea and make it work; a self-assignment. I think I'm off to a good start.

One idea I nixed was to mix catsup with corn syrup and then placing a drop on the point of a shard, thereby making it look like I'd cut myself. :rolleyes

[black mamba]

Hi Lee,

I'm following this thread closely. With your penchant for these kind of shots, I'm looking forward to what you generate as the project goes forward. I have a little more than a casual interest. I was recently given quite a lot of studio equipment, including extensive lighting rigs, by my brother. When I'm able to dedicate some space to set all this up, I'll be into trying some of these type shots. I've always had the desire to try stuff like this but never acted on it.

Good luck my friend,

Tom

[eL eSs Vee]

Thank you, Tom.

Lucky you! Strobe or hot? What brand? I desperately need more strobe equipment! :D

[black mamba]

Lee,

My brother is an electrical engineer. He was largely responsible for the invention and development of a line of lighting equipment marketed under the name of Cool-Lux. As the name suggests, the lighting is known for putting out variable intensity of light at surprisingly low temperatures.

As to your question, in most cases I think you would consider this stuff to operate as " hot " equipment....in that it burns continually while in use. All the pieces he gave me of this stuff are custom designed and assembled by him. There are some strobe lighting outfits in what he gave me as well. These, again, are custom packages he put together himself from various individual pieces available in the marketplace. Thank goodness he'll be there to help me digest all this stuff.

Take care,

Tom

[eL eSs Vee]

Wow! Hot and strobe! Lucky you! Use it in good health! :thumb

[rwells]

Lee,

I think your on target with the bg not working in this image. The colors are too close to your subject, so they kind of clash. If you look-up a color wheel, try and choose a color opposite (or thereabouts), it will be complimentary. Or, just Google for complimentary colors. Gels on a bg come to mind here.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing where your still life takes you :thumb