Most of us, myself included, find it frustrating when we are unable to ‘find the picture’ in a scene. Sometimes when we do, and we hit the bullseye, it can be very enlightening. This picture was taken in a restaurant in Damansara Perdana at around 9pm. While sitting across from the dining hall, I immediately realised that there was a potentially nice picture to be taken here (nice to me anyway). I saw this picture in my head before I had even taken it, before I had even walked over to compose this shot. And sensing that the picture could be further improved by giving it a nostalgic look, I set the camera to Picture Style – Monotone.
Some of you may be wondering why would I set the camera to shoot in Monotone when you can easily do it in post-processing and have the picture in colour as well. Why not have your cake and eat it too? It was simply confidence. I was very certain that this picture would not have looked good in colour, or conversely, that it would look great in b&w. This is due to the fact that colour will draw away the mood and focus that this image and subject is trying to set.
Below this image [to be inserted soon] is the comparison image which was taken where I was actually sitting when I ‘found the picture’. You can see what I mean by comparing these two images. No post-processing was done for these pictures.
Below: Taken with Canon EOS400D, EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM @ 1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO1600, 100mm (160mm equiv), +0.0EV, Ambient Light, No post-processing
Below: Taken with Canon EOS400D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM @ 1/50sec, f/4, ISO1600, 17mm (27mm equiv), +0.0EV, Ambient Light, No post-processing
Below picture was taken when i realised an oh-so-slight oddity with it. The hanging shade in focus was actually just slightly higher than the rest, making it more outstanding, especially when it was the focal point of this picture. Should the shade be in-line with the rest and focus was on it, the impact might not have been all that great. The light-spot above the shades was there unintentionally, but was a pleasant addition no doubt. Again, the image below it is for comparison purposes.
Taken with Canon EOS400D, EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM @ 1/4000sec, f/2.8, ISO1600, 100mm (160mm equiv), +0.0EV, Ambient Light, No post-processing
Below: Taken with Canon EOS400D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM @ 1/50sec, f/4, ISO1600, 17mm (27mm equiv), +0.0EV, Ambient Light, No post-processing
This picture was taken simply because it was just screaming out for it. The position of the flatware just barely visible made an interesting detail in the image. The position of the rear lamp was deliberate as I tried to compose it at the far upper-right hand corner. This allowed the second lamp to make the image more interesting but at the same time not taking the ‘light’ (pun intended) away from the main subject of focus.
Taken with Canon EOS400D, EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM @ 1/500sec, f/2.8, ISO1600, 100mm (160mm equiv), -2.0EV, Ambient Light, No post-processing
