Objects - Macro Subjects On Black

Had an hour spare the other morning, so I decided to experiment with some macro photography, but with a bit of a twist this time.

I placed my subjects on a black t-shirt, then tried to block off all direct light, hoping for some interesting results...

Skull Taken With Fujifilm S5700, Super Macro, Manual, F3.5, 1/3rd, ISO 64, Focal Length 6mm, Rested On Work-Bench

Before I took these shots I made sure I had set a custom white balance off a sheet of paper, then used the shutter delay button to minimise camera shake. In post processing (using Photoshop Elements) I added a levels adjustment layer, using the black eye-dropper to darken the back-ground, then played around with the contrast, then desaturated the image. The clone stamp tool was used to try and even out the background where it was a bit lighter and disguise the lint and specks.

Cokin Filter Taken With Fujifilm S5700, Super Macro, Manual, F3.5, 1.3 Seconds, ISO 64, Focal Length 6.3mm, Rested On Work-Bench

Er.. I cheated a bit with this one. I didn't clean the filter, so you could see plenty of dust on it, so I added a gaussian blur to disguise it...

My Piece of History Taken With Fujifilm S5700, Super Macro, Manual, F3.5, 1 Second, ISO 64, Focal Length 6.3mm, Rested On Work-Bench

You can really see the dust and lint at the bottom of this one - maybe I should use some plain black cloth, or velvet next time?

Stone Taken With Fujifilm S5700, Super Macro, Manual, F3.5, 1.6 Seconds, ISO 64, Focal Length 6.3mm, Rested On Work-Bench

I played around with the hue on this one.

Egg Taken With Fujifilm S5700, Super Macro, Manual, F3.5, 1.6 Seconds, ISO 64, Focal Length 6.3mm, Rested On Work-Bench

If you look at the reflections on the stone egg you can see my kitchen windows - need more diffusers!


This was an interesting exercise. It taught me that it can be really tricky to control the light you want, especially if the subject you're photographing is reflective. I would like to have had softer, more diffuse light, which maybe I could have achieved with some old shower curtains over the windows... plus I need some black material that is very clean and not covered in bits!

Thanks, Rob.