Cappucino

[purplepixie]

I was prompted by TheKevinMonster and Sime's discussion: Fried Rice + Lightbox to post one of my own.

I have a small lighting setup at work with two softboxes - I don't really know what I'm doing, but I shoot all the stuff we need for design purposes. The coffee was for a poster this morning. The 1st image has been adjusted slightly (exposure, some crumbs cleaned up) and the 2nd is deepetched for the poster.

1/125s at f/18
100 ISO
42mm

Any advise?

[clockdoc]

Hi,
I have seen Sime's shot and the one of the fried rice. I am a little confused with the term "softbox." Are you referring to a large reflector that is placed over a floodlamp that softens the light by using some sort of diffusion material or are you talking about a box constructed of some translucent material that is illuminated from the outside by one or more lights?
As for your shots, I like both. The tonal quality is very nice and sharpness/depth of field is excellent. I see you were shooting at f/18. What camera and lens did you use. Can you also describe the positioning of your lights? As a test, note how the shadows (in addition to the exposure) are affected as you move the light closer and farther away from the subject. LArger lights that are closer to the subject will yield softer shadows.

[Saralonde]

DIY softbox/lightbox:
http://digital-photography-school.co...read.php?t=305
http://www.instructables.com/id/EX8FILZ16MEQHO9PFQ

[purplepixie]

Saralonde: tx for the links - will have a read through

Clockdoc: Tx for your reply. I've attached an image showing my lighting setup. I'm using a Canon 350D with 18-55 lens, shooting in this case at 42mm.

[knickers71uk]

I like the second shot better the colours seem more crisp

[purplepixie]

Knickers: It's the same shot, with only the background removed in Photoshop - bit of an optical illusion I think

[clockdoc]

Thanks for the shot showing your setup. That's what I thought you were referring to when you used the term softbox. If your room is small enough and has white walls and ceiling, you can often bounce the lamps into the corners to act like a giant umbrella. You would have to remove the softboxes first. The larger reflective surfaces would produce a softer shadow. Have you ever experimented with "painting with light" using just one of your flood lamps? Set the camera on Bulb or a long exposure time. Keep the lamp in motion as if you had a large paintbrish in your hand and open the shutter with a cable release. You will have to experiment with exposures but the rule of thumb was to take a reading with the light at the position/distance you would be painting and use an exposure of 8 times that. For a given f/stop if the starting reading was 1 second then use 8 seconds at that f/stop as a test.Best done in a darkened room with only the "painting" light on as other lights may influence the exposure and end result.

[purplepixie]

Tx for all the info, Clockdoc Will try out the diffrent methods described and post in future. Tried the 'painting with light' method years ago as a photography student, but havn't used it since. Time to play

[Thorsten K]

I like the first shot. On the 2nd you can still "see" that the background was removed or is artificial/inserted here. I also like that the cup is standing more out in the first shot.
Because the biscotti playing a major role in your pic I would heve included them in the "in focus" area of the pic. If this pic is made for a poster more depth of field would be great.

All the best
Thorsten