Dining Out

[avytech]

This was taken an hour or so after getting my Canon XT. I used the kit lens and Av mode.

[clockdoc]

Interesting composition. I would go for more of a closeup of where the knife and fork meet as there is a lot of wasted space and distracting background in the rest of the frame. Try not to cut into the name on the knife with the tines of the fork and see if that also makes a difference. Another approach to fill the void is to cast some long shadows from the knife and fork on the countertop that will accentuate the composition.

[phlyersphan]

Neat composition! I wish my pics an hour after getting my Rebel looked so good

[avytech]

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you think cropping like this would be better?

[avytech]

Originally Posted by phlyersphan

Neat composition! I wish my pics an hour after getting my Rebel looked so good

Thanks! ^_^ I think using the Av mode is what helped.
(I have a Rebel 2000 [film] so I'm a little familiar with SLR a settings already)

[clockdoc]

Yes, I like that composition much better. Thanks for taking the time to crop and repost.

[defaultlsettings]

The re-crop looks much better. My eye tends to jump from the highlight in the background and the fork and knife. Maybe a little burning of the highlight in the background?

[avytech]

Originally Posted by defaultlsettings

The re-crop looks much better. My eye tends to jump from the highlight in the background and the fork and knife. Maybe a little burning of the highlight in the background?

Hmm... The highlight blurring seems odd to me because it'd still be a lighter spot. This may sound silly, but I hate to do anything more than cropping and resizing in Photoshop. It feels like cheating.
I'm a liar, I'll clone out a zit or something if someone asks me to.

I'll just have to pay closer attention next time!

And thanks for the feedback because I didn't even notice that spot. ^_^

[shawngrimes]

I love compositions of every day items that make you look at them in a new way. When I sit down to eat dinner tonight, I'll see my knife and fork and remember your photo.

I'm with you on the photoshop/cheating feeling so maybe an alternative would be a bounce flash so you don't get the reflection (I'm assuming it's a reflection) in the background and on the table. I think that some sort of backlighting that would cast a shadow in the foreground would be really nice too. I also agree with positioning the fork so that it doesn't break up the name on the knife blade.