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Silence Interrupted
Silence Interrupted
Paul


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Silence II (Basic Editing)
Collection: Rubbish stuff
Camera: Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro
Location: Birmingham, England
Date: Jan 25, 2009
Aperture: f/3.2
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/3200
Galleries: Macro, Blur
Date Uploaded: Jan 25, 2009

 I really struggled to get this image - but a new macro lens and some studio lights later, here we are.

I took well over 700 shots of pins dropping on all sorts of surfaces with all sorts of DOF, shutter speeds, lighting conditions, and ISOs - with both of my cameras and all of my lenses.

In the end, this was taken with two studio lights in modeling lamp mode placed in very close proximity to the pin-drop. I tried using the flash but the movement was too fast for the pin to remain sharp - I suppose the pin is so close to the lens, the angular change at even modest speeds is pretty high.

I like the way you can just about make out the part of the granite surface onto which the pin is dropping - it illustrates just how narrow the depth of field is.

Only after I shot this did I do an image search and find a few other examples of the concept - but I do think mine offers a different angle.

As an image to look at, it is probably too drab to make many friends but I hope there are some people who will look at it in the context of how tricky such a shot is to pull off.

Edit: Crop; Neat Image; Smart Sharpen; some reduction of red and magenta (to reduce the appearance of noise); a boost to the exposure; a raised black point; and finally a crop.

Statistics
Place: 49 out of 178
Avg (all users): 5.6000
Avg (commenters): 5.5455
Avg (participants): 5.2963
Avg (non-participants): 5.7051
Views since voting: 949
Views during voting: 335
Votes: 210
Comments: 12
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 03/08/2009 08:08:33 AM
Gimmickry or execution is always appreciated and respected. My previous comment was not meant to belittle your efforts. For what it is, this is a very fine image and i think you accomplished what you pre-visualized. To me, that is the ultimate test within image gathering.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/01/2009 12:34:23 PM
Your idea is good and fits the title. The shot is simple but quite effective to convey the idea behind your title but in itself does not convey a feeling of silence. Whilst the pin is positioned perfectly in the frame there is too much empty space at the bottom and on the right and the image would benefit if cropped a little tighter. Maybe an inch and a half of the bottom and off the right hand side. 4
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/31/2009 07:20:52 AM
Very clever! :D Composition is great, and the colors are perfect. Great job!

_Nathanael
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/31/2009 05:42:34 AM
I love the anticipatory silence this image creates. I would have been tempted to crop out the bottom smudges and perhaps use a 2x3 portrait with the pin centered. Having the green ball just off center makes it feel a bit off balance to me. The sharpness of the pin's tip is fantastic and it looks like you're really dropping it (over and over and over... :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2009 06:24:54 PM
good: i like that the pin shows movement. and the sharp (in focus) point. the background gradient is nice.

bad: lighting is flat and boring, composition is bleh. not much else very interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2009 03:40:40 PM
Great idea. I would have loved to see the whole pin in focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2009 08:18:12 AM
Interesting use of depth of field... I think I like it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2009 03:55:02 AM
The Idea is clever but a lot of negative space
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 12:33:03 PM
I like that you can tell where the ground is and the super shallow DOF definitely works with the image. But I feel that the part of the pin that is out of focus is a little jarring, in a sense. I realize the possible difficulty of trying to get a pin to fall within a shallow DOF, but still, I think it might have been interesting to try.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2009 07:51:44 AM
another dropping thing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2009 11:37:31 PM
good work - stands out amongst the mediocre images in the challenge. The touch of blue adds a nice feeling of movement.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2009 11:07:53 PM
I love the simplicity with a clear message.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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