D 170 - Handset

A doorphone handset shot in a DIY light tent made from a recipe found on the net.

Equipment

E-510 with both kit ZD- lens interchanged.
RAW heavily worked on in Lightroom.

What I learned

I bow before accomplished product photographers. I thought it was a no-brainer to make some clean and appealing product shots.

I was very wrong. Achieving a barely satisfying result was quite a hard work for me.

I didn't make it easy for myself and used only household and DIY equipment to make the photos. It took my well over 3 hours to make a makeshift photo tent and set it up under a lamp with extra bright bulb (do they still call that name those new fluorescent energy-saving things?) and than make the shots.

I approved 12 out of 42 photos, which all-in-all is quite a good ratio but on the flip side, I know that next time I could make the shots way better.

I wish I've had: black backdrop, dense fabric for tent walls (or a light tent), two or more lamps giving exactly the same light, a good tripod, external flash(-es) with a reflector or soft-box.

Additionally I must remember to compensate exposure bias when photographing white object on white backdrop. I had to brighten photos in Lightroom to a point when even ISO 100 gave away some noise.

D 101 - Was Andy sober?

I had a great idea for a photo after puring myself some of this fine stout with an exceptional foam.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442 and Pentacon 30 + 21mm extension tube.

What I learned

Combined photos have never been my strong side. I always seem to be missing something important after I combine the elements.

D 90 - Not all that glitters is gold

Macro close-up on a hand sharpened pencil.

I'm trying to make some improvements to the visual side of the blog every once in a while. I think that the dark borders around photos help to frame the compositions within them.

Equipment

E-510, 6-15-27mm extension tubes and Helios 44-4. Flash with a soft-box, aluminum sheet reflector.

What I learned

Not every macro proves to be as fascinating as those of thorny chestnut skin. Perhaps most man-made objects are just a very poor imitation of mother nature.

If you look at natural objects you will find them showing new fascinating textures from naked eye view all the way to atomic structure. At every level there is an organization of elements because the nature "made" them as a bottom-up designs - the characteristics of the smallest particles forces specific arrangements at higher levels.

When man designs and produces an item, he thinks top-down. He knows what he wants in the end and then works out what materials and arrangements to use at smaller scales. And there is no particle in this universe that would naturally form itself into a blender, bicycle or a Zuiko Digital lens. So at some structural level man-made things have to be clumsy, simplified, dull and ugly.

Or so says Zarathustra.

D 68 - Contrast, Cord and Candle

HDR is for the people.
It's a tool to master, just as I thought. Can be used to benefit a fitting scene.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442. Tripod.
RAW files edited it Lightroom and merged to HDR in Qtpfsgui.

What I learned

I don't have a comfort of having a vacant room for a photo studio. So any arrangement including a backdrop and an arranged lighting takes a few minutes to set up. I have scarce time for photography with a 2-year old child running around and this extra time feels almost like wasted. The results of taking time to set up are evident but it arranging objects in space isn't what I love in photography. It's a necessary burden.

As long as photography is my hobby, not my job, I'll tend to do only the most fun part of it.