Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Zoom In Zoom Out #4 and Frugal Still Life #3

This week Cheryl had a guest instructor for our Frugal Still Life class and we were tasked to do a set up similar to that of the instructor. I didn't happen to have any dry flowers handy, but I did have a set of old oil diffuser sticks in a pretty little vase.

 So I started with this little set-up. We had a lot of snow which was bouncing extra sunlight into the room. And I used the white foam core board to the left to also bounce light back.

Here's my first shot. I really like the paisley pillow as a backdrop, but at the same time was frustrated that the camera insisted on focusing on the pillow when I was trying to focus on the little green balls. I'm not at the point of using manual yet, so I guess that will come eventually.

Same subject matter using a top down approach. And I got those little green balls in focus! This one also begged for a square crop.

And finally, same shot as above with some texture added just for fun.  The textures included:
Alexa's Honey Grunge on overlay at 38%
Kim Klassen's Cinnamon on soft light at 64%, Cherish on soft light at 100% and Annabelle on linear burn at 54%

Which is your favorite?

I am also linking up with  Helena's Zoom In Zoom Out meme.  Click on the link to see what other people are photographing today!

19 comments:

Maria Ontiveros said...

Gorgeous! I like the downward looking shots best.
Rinda

debs14 said...

My favourite is the penultimate one!

alexa said...

And I like the middle one too - it seems to have the clarity the light of the top one and a greater focus focus on those little green balls. Lots of lovely texture in that cushion ..

Missus Wookie said...

Oh really liking that cushion as a backdrop. I like the top down with the balls in focus shot too. The textures are fun additions - would be nice with a quote or for a card.

helena said...

fascinating to see the set up and then the photos - I like the ones from above best

Jimjams said...

Love the penultimate shot paired with the original.

marie grady palcic said...

love the final image, the greens are perfect
I also am loving the way the 3 backgrounds - paisley, green, tan- work together.
great shot!

Anonymous said...

Great colors and composition!

Melissa said...

What a great set up for this week's photo shoot! I have to choose the first photo, even if the green balls are out of focus because I like the pillow background, too.

Cheryl McCain said...

Great set-up! I love the last image cropped square and textured!
http://cherylmccainphotography.com

Unknown said...

I love the last one, and love your idea of using that gorgeous pillow as a backdrop :)

Barbara Eads said...

I love the top down shot. But I have to say what I like best of all is that you can see that beautiful snow outside. I think that's the perfect backdrop for your still life!

Carola Bartz said...

Since I like textured photos the last photo is my favorite - but actually all of them are lovely.
You should be able to focus manually on the green balls without being in manual mode. I don't know what camera you have... but look at your lens. Does it have a button that you can move from AF to M? Just set it on M and turn the ring around the lens, and you can focus on where you want to.

Karen said...

What beautiful diffuser sticks! Mine are just plain. My favorite is the last one with the texture, but they are all lovely.

Nina said...

Beautiful, Cheri! I just love the green beans / pearls, such a creative idea! My favorite is the last one, the textures makes a nice frame and feeling to your wonderful image!

Nina said...

Beautiful, Cheri! I just love the green beans / pearls, such a creative idea! My favorite is the last one, the textures makes a nice frame and feeling to your wonderful image!

Rachel said...

Cheri, i LOVE them all! Its been neat watching your talents surface over the years. From the dolls to scrapbooks to photography.

Rachel said...

Cheri, i LOVE them all! Its been neat watching your talents surface over the years. From the dolls to scrapbooks to photography.

Miriam said...

The last one is my favourite, the patterned back drop is lovely and something I can't manage so it's lovely to see. What a lovely set up you have, so close to the window.