Assignment 2: Re-shoot, part II

In part I, I have modified some of the composition issue (seems to always be shoot tighter, does that mean I have tendency to leave too much empty space?) in Lightroom. Now for some other shots, I need to actually reshoot. This time I will consider the issue with the horizontal line and the rhythm short.


First of all, the two points shot. My tutor told me that there is a horizontal line across (along with other images I have submitted). While shooting assignment, I used two type of backdrops: white silk and lining paper (for laying wallpaper). The issue with white silk, or other type of cloth is that, they are very soft and cannot stand up by themselves. As a result, when I use cloth, it lays flat on the table as soon as it touches it. My table is brown and do not transmit light, so it creates a darker colour than the part that sticks up to the flash.


There are two solution to it. If I insist that I have to use cloth as backdrop, I need to create a frame with wire and mount the cloth to it. I can bend the wire on the side. The other (easier) way is to use paper as backdrop. 


This is shoot with the wall lining paper as backdrop.

Ok, but I notice there still a gradient from light to dark when I move from top to bottom. I am not sure if I can totally eliminate it if I stick with my brown table. However, I am sure that it can be reduced. First I increase the exposure (so everything is now brighter. I move my light source lower, and shoot tighter to get raid of the space at the bottom. 

I still wonder if it is possible to get raid of that gradient completely and have uniform background....

The second image my tutor talked about is the rhythm shot. There are two problem, first of all the stem of the glass is too soft. I think when I select the focus point initially, I chose to focus in the middle glass so none of the glasses will be totally out of focus. However, given that the viewer will see the stem of the front of the glass, so I can make the focus on the front and let other blur. 

The other issue is there is a hint of red below the main area. this is coming from the reflection between the bowl of the glasses. I can change my shooting angle to reduce this hint of red. For example.

However, this will affect the composition of how the glasses over lay each other. Personally I do not like this composition (even if I include the stem, the top is not overlap enough).

Alternatively, I can reduce number of glasses and make it less apparent (less repetitive).

However, none of it truly make that hint of red disappear. As a result, I think maybe it is cleaner to just shoot it without the red wine at the back. Also notice that in the bowls of the glasses, there is less reflection and the glasses looks cleaner in general. 

One side note about the pattern, the tutor notices that light was dropping off on the side. I have to admit that it is an issue of the backdrop. For example if I use the lining paper, I run to the edge very quickly. 

With the size of the glass I am using, I should have use a larger backdrop if I want to line them up horizontally. 

There are still couple more to re-shoot, but I will stop here for now.