For my mentoring group - this weeks theme Macro - B&W.
I was looking for something to do a macro of and suddenly saw this fuse on my desk. Where did it come from? I have no idea!! It must have dropped out of something!! How strange!!
HI Pam...it's fun seeing your macros -- you have such a good eye for detail. In this one, I think it's technically quite strong with a great shadow and good, stark contrasts. For me, the subject itself isn't as interesting as other subjects you've used. That's where you get into personal preference and there's no accounting for individual reactions. So no suggestions for change particularly. One thought was to increase the contrast substantially to make the object more extreme. Not sure if that even makes sense -- to make the object less 'accurate' and more about it's curves/shines/shadows.
@taffy Thanks Taffy. I did try stronger contrast when I was editing this shot and I liked it but then remembered last time I did that I was criticised for being too heavy handed so I pulled it back to this. I was in a hurry this morning and this fuse was there on my desk - no idea where it has come from. Macro B&W is quite a challenge to find things which look good as B&W and not loose the essence of the shot by taking the colour away.
@pamknowler On suggestion for b&w macro is to look for something with patterns. I think that's the challenge in the fuse -- there isn't enough going on to make it interesting, even though technically skilled. Another suggestion is to use macro on something with interesting lines and get really close -- like the core and stem of an apple. Anyway, patterns and lines are the big thing to me when I try this -- but I agree, it's very hard!
@taffy Thanks for the suggestions I will be rummaging in the cupboards tomorrow!! I am trying to find something similar to the fob watch I used last week - the inside had lots of detail.
@joansmor use a very shallow dof - see my shot of the fork from last week. That gives you a very small point of focus with the rest becoming blurry and abstract. Items in the kitchen are good for this kind of macro shot. Graters and brushes etc. Good luck.
Looking at this has given me an idea for a subject to shoot.