A Christmas Toy (Lighting/Sharpness)

[reidgilman]

Hello. I took some pictures of a Transformers toy I got for Christmas in a very harsh backlight. I was trying to create an atmosphere of strength or toughness - very much the opposite of what you might attempt in portraits of a human. I shot at high apertureusing a Sigma 70-300 DG APO Macro lens on my Rebel XTi. Obviously, I supported the whole thing with a tripod.

I would appreciate critiques regarding the lighting, sharpness, and composition of the photos. Do you prefer the very dark ones or the more evenly lit one?

[brbeall3]

I Like the second photo more than the others. I believe this pic portrays more of the strength and mystery of the toy. Can you photoshop out the background to a strong black? That may accomplish more of the effect you want.

I enjoy the pictures. Excellent capture of the sunburst off of the toy.

Happy Holidays!

[wulf]

The starburst (side effect of a small aperture and bright light) is superb. You definitely need to think about the background. Either plain or taking advantage of the surroundings to emphasise the mood you want (eg. how about surrounding it with "defeated" opponents?).

Wulf

ps. single shots are preferred for "critique my shot" (see the rules), although you can link to others. I'll let you off this time since it is still the Christmas season...