Kitchen Ware

[Barefoot]

Our local camera club issues monthly challenges, and January’s was kitchen ware. I know, sounds boring. I made the best I could of it by showing my wife’s “Neon Cheese Grater” If it’s ok, I’ll share it with you guys also.

[Mad Aussie]

This is with a macro lens I take it?

Do you have a photo of the whole grater?

[Barefoot]

Yeah, it was done with a Nikkor 60mm f2.8 macro. I made a couple dozen shots using different lighting arrangement and colors. The original is for the most part just like the copy I’ve posted here with only the left and right holes having been cropped to achieve some balance. (as shot, I didn’t quiet get all of the hole on the right) Most of the other shots wouldn’t need to be cropped as they were framed a little better. I just liked the results of this one better after running it through Capture NX 2.

Here’s some of the EXIF info typical of all the shots :
Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D90
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Ver.1.00
DateTime - 2009:01:07 20:07:10
ExposureTime - 25 seconds
FNumber - 10.00
ExposureProgram - Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
DateTimeOriginal - 2009:01:07 20:07:10
DateTimeDigitized - 2009:01:07 20:07:10
MaxApertureValue - F 4.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired
FocalLength - 60.00 mm
UserComment - COPYRIGHTED BY
ExifImageWidth - 4288
ExifImageHeight - 2848
CustomRendered - Custom process
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 90 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange – Unknown

Here’s another, if you’re interested. I just used a different approach to lighting in this one. Same grater, no crop, and straight from the camera.

[Lovin]

I really like it, is not boring at all and is original.

[Mad Aussie]

Ok ... I was just trying to get my head around what I was seeing. It's certainly a different view of a grater.

[Marko]

Pretty cool indeed - can you describe how you lit the grater?

[Ben H]

can you describe how you lit the grater?

With a blow-torch, by the looks of that second one...

[Barefoot]

With a blow-torch, by the looks of that second one...

You’re right. One should never post images that, in reality, should have been discarded. Allow me to apologize for that.

To answer Marko, it was not an extravagant affair. Maybe you’ve all seen the little chemical light sticks that kids use to fashion a necklace or bracelet and then parade around in the dark? I clamped a pair of green ones on the inside top corner of one side of the grater, and a pair of orange ones on the other inside top corner. They served to light the inside of the grater. Then I placed the grater on top of a large drinking glass (never drink small) with a blue LED keychain light inside the glass to light the grater from beneath. That basic set-up remained the same throughout the session. The only thing that changed was painting the top of the grater at varying degrees with different colors from the pack of light sticks. This shot cost me a wad of money! I paid a buck for the light sticks at the Dollar Tree, and I think I got the key chains there, too. Total cost: $2
No jokes about the American dollar, please. It's a sore subject here. :-)

Of course, all of this was done at a long exposure in a pitch dark room.