Silent Microphone

Tried doing a bit of an experiment with a piece of bristol-board and a 25 watt light bulb to capture my studio microphone with my trusty 5D on a tripod with the EF50 f/1.4 USM. I took several shots and ended up being happy with two of them.

C&C appreciated.

Cheers!

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I'm here all week, folks!

Don't forget to try the roast beef.

the yellow cast is distracting. Maybe fixing the white balance is needed? or did you want it that way for a reason? bringing the mic further away from the background will also help get rid of the ugly shadows.

also, they seem a little too centered. I would try to apply the rule of thirds.

I'm sure its a nice Audio-Technica Microphone, but these pictures don't really capture that for me.

Vermin87 wrote in post #4311301
the yellow cast is distracting. Maybe fixing the white balance is needed? or did you want it that way for a reason? bringing the mic further away from the background will also help get rid of the ugly shadows.

also, they seem a little too centered. I would try to apply the rule of thirds.

I'm sure its a nice Audio-Technica Microphone, but these pictures don't really capture that for me.

Thanks for your response.

Ordinarily, I'm more of a landscape photographer and have zero experience doing still life. I am learning now about things like lighting, diffusers, tents, back drops and all the rest of this art but don't have the budget for all that stuff at the moment because I just bought my 5D a few short weeks ago and am tapped out! So, in the meantime, I'm working with what I have, which is a few goose-neck 25 watt lamps with GE R-14 bulbs in them and a singular sheet of white bristol-board. When I took these shots above, I only had a singular lamp. I now have three of them.

My original "artistic" idea when I composed and tittled these shots as "Silent Microphone", was to somehow convey the sense of non-usage and idleness of a capable piece of gear that no longer got to do its job. The cold reality of neglect was what I was wanting to capture. I need help in achieving that and I should have written all of this in my original post so that I might receive some ideas on how to achieve that. My apologies.

Cheers!

Hmm, if that's what you're going for, it looks too clean for that! haha. Perhaps getting some dust on it, putting it in a darker situation with other junk, or maybe not on a stand but on its side on the floor or something. These pictures look to organized and neat to be "neglected"

I'm not feeling the things you wanted to portrait. Perhaps put it in a setting where it's more clear. Either a 'old/spider web/dust"-ish scene, or a scene where it's obvious what has taken it's place and made it obsolete. It's really up to you though, just ideas

Vermin87 wrote in post #4315031
Hmm, if that's what you're going for, it looks too clean for that! haha. Perhaps getting some dust on it, putting it in a darker situation with other junk, or maybe not on a stand but on its side on the floor or something. These pictures look to organized and neat to be "neglected"

Those are great ideas!

I'm gonna work on that! Maybe have it laying around some older items of nostalgia and highlight the focus on it to bring it out as the star of the shot!

Thank you!

Cheers!

Cool! Make sure to update the shot here so we can all see!

Regardless of whether you conveyed the desired message (I think you are headed in the right direction now), I do like the clean look and composition of #1. It looks more like a shot you would find in a product literature type brochure for a mike manufacturer. A somewhat darker/richer colored background would give it more of a product lit look. Then, send a copy to AT with instructions of where to mail your check!

Mark

my suggestion is to drop the saturation to 25-35% giving it a bit of a hybrid b&w w/ some color retention. Adjust your curves and contrast to make it a bit darker. Try shooting a Neumann mic and your photos might then be organic ...having been in music retail...the Audio Technica mics are lack luster in the studio scene. Which lends to my next recommendation of subject material. Good luck and do what "feels" right.

I'm still not sure if I'm on the right path here?

I tried setting up a completely different shot with lots of other objects in the frame and tried to get the focus on the AT microphone alone which was difficult with very reduced lighting...a singular 5 watt halogen with dimmer, (Littlelite).

Any better this time?

Cheers and thanks for all the feedback I've received thus far.

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much better! the dark feel adds to the neglected feel, as does the fallen over things in the background. Still kinda wondering why the mic is upright though

Vermin87 wrote in post #4335995
much better! the dark feel adds to the neglected feel, as does the fallen over things in the background. Still kinda wondering why the mic is upright though

Thanks for your kind comments and continued help with this project!

I'm very new to this genre of photography and am slowly learning all the subtleties of the art.

Why was it still standing up, you asked? Because I couldn't find a way to keep it in and as focus without it that way.

Anyway, I'm going to move on to other subject matter that's hopefully better/pleasing. I also bought a 580 EX-II flash last night and want to integrrate that into my toolbox for future projects.

Cheers!

Sweet! Best of luck to you on future projects! I'm sure the flash will be an awesome addition.