Hi Michelle, welcome to the Critique Zone!
First off, this is a great idea and I am very impressed by the dedication you put into realising your vision. Hopefully you still have the bottle because I think you could re-shoot this (if only for your own pleasure).
Technical: Your aperture is pretty wide for a shot of this nature, and the edges of the bottle are consequently a little fuzzy. I'd have used your 18-55 kit lens instead, set to about f7.1 and done it all with a tripod and delay / remote - that way you get a really sharp image, which this concept demands. The kit lens can be very good, so don't listen to all of the naysayers and stories. With a tripod, you can drop the ISO and use whatever shutter you need - it's still life, it's not going anywhere!
PP: You noted that you desaturated and used brightness / contrast - these are pretty blunt instruments. Have a look at the curves and b/w conversion tools in the lessons on DPC for some ideas on how to retain more control - there is some great knowledge in there. Also worth knowing that re-sizing can destroy sharpness, I always re-sharpen after re-sizing, just a little bot less so it doesn't look crazy.
Artistic: This shot starts from a great point: the glitter and glow, the contrast and lighting are really smart. I think that the perspective could be more interesting though - maybe offset, maybe looking up at the bottle? Something a little more unusual than the every day perspective we might see from our own eyes. Also, on DPC people are really picky and the dented cap is an issue for an 'ad' challenge where the bottle should be new.
I think that with a slight re-framing, this shot could be a killer, although the beads don't look like ice so I would have gone with 'abolut gem' or some such. You clearly have a great eye for the unusual, and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Happy hunting,
Frank. |
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