PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 85
Thisshotwas
in spiredbya
posterforone
oftheAlienfilms
fr om years ago,
with a half-lit
giant egg pod against a black
background. To emulate this,
I decided an apple would be
a suitable subject, and took
a trip to the supermarket to
find the perfect specimen.
I placed the apple on a black
table with the black side of
a reflector as a background.
Il lumination was from above
wi th a wireless flashgun. I used
a snoot to stop light spilling
out to the background.
flickr.com/photos/97833073@
N05Adam says: There’s a
definite science fiction feel
about this shot. My first
thought was that it looks likea gi antplanetrisingup above
the horizonof a distant
world,so I waspleasedto
discoverthattheAlienmovie
poster was the inspiration.
It’s a great idea that has been
very well executed.
The lighting is simple but
very effective, with the use of
a snoot to limit lighting to thebackgroundhelpingto keep
the appleisolated.Thelight
fa ll-offaroundtheapple
isperfectwiththewater
droplets really working to
give shape and form to the
subject beyond the reach of
the light, creating a ‘rising out
of the darkness’ quality to
the composition.Ifthere’sanythingthat
needsimprovement,it’sthat
the dropletson thefrontof
the appleareslightlysoft.
Itlooksas thoughthefocus
was seton thestem,andthe
narrowaperturehasn’tquite
extendedthedepth-of-field
fa r enoughoutto includethe
fr ontof theapple.I’dbe
te mptedto shiftthefocus
pointforwarda bit so the
nearestdropletsareincluded
inthezoneof sharpfocus.
The choice to compose the
apple dead centre is spot on.
The apple centre stage means
it commands the frame and
grabs attention. All in all, it’s
a great concept from Allan.Focus can be a tricky beast, especially
when shooting macro. The zone of
acceptably sharp focus extends about
twice as far beyond your focus point as it
does in front of it. This means that for best
results you’ll need to place your focus about
one-third of the way into your subject, then
set a small enough aperture to extend the
depth-of-field as far as you need to cover
the parts of your subject you want sharp.Nailing the focusThe light fall-off around theapple is perfect with the waterdroplets giving shape and formApple drops by Allan Jones
Canon 5D MkIV | 100mm | 1/60sec | f/16 | ISO 200Feedback