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Talc in Motion
1st PlaceTalc in Motion
ericpi


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Inanimate Macro (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Canon EOS-70D
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
Location: Home, New Jersey
Date: Nov 16, 2014
Aperture: 11.0
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/250
Date Uploaded: Nov 17, 2014

 I've seen a few people online do baby powder shots, and I wanted to give one a try.

I mounted the bottom brush in a vice, and placed a bit of talcum powder on it. I flicked the top brush with my right hand, and triggered the remote shutter with my left. Took about 100+ shots, and found the one I liked best.

I used a camera-mounted flash as the only lighting, and used a white card to direct the light toward the brush. I set the flash to a lower power (1/16, I think.) The lower power results in a shorter flash duration, which stops the motion better. Kept the room as dark as I could.

Stopped lens down to f/11 to get a reasonably wide DoF. Shutter speed was 1/250s, though the speed is really controlled by the flash, rather than the shutter.

Processing was fairly straightforward: Adjusted RAW levels, cropped, resized, unsharp mask.

That was a lot of fun to shoot. (Though there were vast quantities of powder coating the room afterwards :) ) I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

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Wow! Thank you very much for the nice, helpful comments and for the great votes. I'm so happy to have my first ribbon! :)

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 105
Avg (all users): 7.3186
Avg (commenters): 8.0769
Avg (participants): 7.1034
Avg (non-participants): 7.5455
Views since voting: 2402
Views during voting: 208
Votes: 113
Comments: 25
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 09/05/2015 11:34:35 AM
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on winning with an excellent close up that meets the challenge

Not strictly a macro as required by the challenge but not everybody has the equipment to enable them to produce macros so I regard close ups as perfectly acceptable in the context of this challenge.

So, I get the pleasure of commenting on your entry again, and my original remarks and score of 8 still stand. I don't know where you got the idea from but it is a great one, well done. You have captured the moment really well with this minimum flash against the black background, the patterns of the wispy talc as it is dispersed are very attractive and appealing.

I didn't really pick up on the stray bristles of the grey brush as others here did but I can see their point especially as the lower brown brush is so much better in this respect. The composition is very effective with an appropriate amount of brush bezel at the top and bottom of the frame, the crop is good not too tight.

What a great way to introduce yourself to DPC, an excellent result for an excellent submission, apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/27/2014 10:41:20 AM
Congratulations and excellent image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 01:29:20 PM
Congratulations on your first ribbon. This is a great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 01:10:28 PM
Congrats on your first blue! I loved it when I voted, still do now and am delighted that it did so well for you.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 09:09:57 AM
Congratulations on your ribbon, excellent image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 07:55:49 AM
Nicely done; congrats on your first ribbon and blue no less!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 04:13:53 AM
Its great to have a go at something and come up trumps.
Grats on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 03:16:07 AM
I really enjoyed this image, but I docked you two points for not submitting a macro photo (even at best, this is only a "close up").

You still ended up with an 8 from me, though - pat on the back that you kept on trying until you were happy with the result.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 03:12:27 AM
It's certainly a beautiful image. Love the color combination, too. Huge congrats on your first ribbon, new PB and your fantastic score.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 12:47:57 AM
Congrats on your first ribbon! !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 12:45:22 AM
Congrats on the blue! Nice job with the lighting and stopping the motion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2014 12:41:28 AM
Congratulations on your first ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/25/2014 10:41:25 PM
As a "macro" this did not seem, to me, as a qualifying submission for this contest. As a most intriguing - I mean really intriguing image - I stand in awe. Unique, imaginative, a perfectly captured moment - spellbinding.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/25/2014 08:31:33 PM
Nicely done, good light and action and the varying colored brushes make it visually pleasing. Well composed with the cloud of dust too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/25/2014 03:38:38 PM
Awesome
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2014 10:56:58 AM
Nice action, not often found in macro.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/23/2014 02:03:30 PM
Absolutely supreme!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2014 11:50:56 AM
Best in show award, congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/20/2014 01:13:42 PM
Awesome action shot !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/20/2014 07:55:07 AM
Only the second entry that stirs my interest. Great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/19/2014 06:52:59 PM
Terrific idea, great execution! Love this one!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/19/2014 04:48:07 PM
Great lighting and well executed image, should do well
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/19/2014 11:29:16 AM
Very cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/19/2014 09:58:50 AM
Love the concept. I think this could have been awesome if the brushes were trimmed of stray hairs and fibers.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/19/2014 12:46:26 AM
great idea and well executed, would like to have seen the stray bristles on the black brush cloned out. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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