critique my pic

my Sog Power Lock after a few days work here in Afghanistan with my Wiley x gloves and my shemagh for sand storms as a back ground




Iso 100
f8
1/60
Nikon d7000 with 35mm f1.8 and sb700 flash

Honestly looks like a calender or catalog pic to me

Good job

Thanks just geting in to photography still need alot of practice just thought i would throw this together will i was in my tent and i thought i came out good just trying to get some people that no more then me to give me some pointers

+1 Stop should be about perfect. Maybe some contrast to go along with that. Otherwise, good. Some additional lighting would eliminate the deep shadows and make it look more "producty."

Right now lighting is a big problem for me i live in a tent with very crappy lights im actually looking at getting some daylight bulbs to put in my lamps to see if that will be better i took about 15 pics form different places in my room and ended up bouncing my flash off the white wall of the tent to get that one

The lighting is actually pretty good, but you should expose it in post by another stop, adjust the contrast and see if you like that better, it looks dark to me here.

Im not really sure how to do any thing in Photoshop right now i have elements 10. It took me an hour just to put the border on it any books you recommend on photography and/or Photoshop?

Global exposure and contrast changes are pretty easy...unfortunately I've yet to find a really good Photoshop book (I use Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers, but it assumes alot, even for my taste.) Trial and error is good stuff. There are probably some easier books for the Elements programs, maybe someone else has suggestions. Heavy editing is a whole other field, but the basics you can probably figure out with online tutorials (youtube).

being over here youtube sucks it can take 30+ min for a 2 min video to load

I imagine you are pretty short on Barnes & Nobels too...I definitely wouldn't order any of those books without getting a look or recommendation first, some of them can be pretty useless.

One of the best weapons photographers out there, a gentleman by the name of Ichiro Nagata, primarily uses LED flashlights for detail work on small subjects like you have there. Give it a shot. I assume you have one?

I actualy do not i have about 3 at home but forgot all of them there the px here is not very well stocked and as never had an led light that i have seen

Bummer.

im ordering a 80-200 f/2.8 Nikon lens next Friday and might get some lights when i order it

Needs dappled light. Also, you could let the light fall off on the areas that aren't important.

ETA....Since the items are old and used, I am assuming you are trying to create a mood rather than trying to sell a product.

defiantly not selling anything what do you mean by dappled light?

The light is really even across your pic. It happens when you bounce or use a large soft source. He was suggesting making the light be uneven in intensity as it falls over the subject. Like firing your flash though a camo net or chair or whatever you have that would break up the even light and create some shadows and light spots. Its called a cookie or a gobo in film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuculoris

one thing i thought about today i could have put a book or something under the shemagh so that the tip of the pliers head didn't dig down in to it

Do you have a reflector?

These are cheap and work well for being a $9 reflector. It allows you to reflect but also can act as a large diffuser for your flash turning it into a soft light source.

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-110CM-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329353390&sr=8-1

You can use CLS with your flash right? You can use that and a reflector or even a white board or whatever to create good light.

what is cls?

It is the built in creative lighting system I think it is called. It allows you to trigger your flash off the camera using your on camera flash. In other words You can use the d7000 to remotely trigger the sb700 . I believe you can turn the on board flash way down too so it doesn't effect the exposure. I only messed around with it a little bit because I have radio triggers. It seems to work ok but it is optical so you had to have your flash turned the right way to get it to work.

Remotely triggering your flash opens up tons of possibilities for lighting. Basically you can light a "scene" then you can move the camera where ever and take pics. The possibilities are really limitless.

yes i can do that havent messed with it yet when i order my new lens im going to get some better lights and a reflector

This look any better same pic just re edited it

the original was better. too much processing on the new one. what kinda lights were you thinking of buying?

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I thought it looked cool at first but the more i look at it i dont like it. Im not sure nothing to fancy will im over here may just get some daylight bulbs for my lamp and pick up a second one so i can have light from both sides. im also going to get a cheap reflector ive been trying to use some white t shirts but after one wash over here they aint too white anymore

Think of photography like this. There always has to be a sun(main light). It can be a hard light casting deep,sharp shadows like you see on a really sunny day. It can be a really soft, even light casting almost no shadows, like you would see on a really really overcast day. And of course there is also everything in between. How you choose to light a subject will determine the mood or feel. What you created with your first is light like a really overcast day(soft, open shadows). That type of lighting is good for some things, especially selling a product(hence the response that it looke like a catalog shot), but it doesn't evoke a whole lot of emotion or create a mood, at least not from me. When I look at that rusty tool, I envision deep shadows like you would get from the sun raking across it late in the afternoon at quitting time. Try taking that same set up, but adding a bright side or back light shinning through some tree branches to create some dappled light.

I shot this using a bright spotlight(main light) shining though some fake tree branches. I also used a second light(fill light) which was soft and not as bright as the main light. The fill light is used to open up the shadows. The trick is to balance the lights to get the feel you want. Shadows are good, but not so deep you lose all detail in them.

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