An attempt at commercial photography

I was asked by a friend at work to take a picture of a pre-filled syringe (don’t ask) for an article she was writing.  I am not sure what she was expecting, but this is one of the choices she is going to get!  I envy those who can make mundane objects appear interesting or a work of art.  I have taken a number of shots, mostly with a blue light on them – this is in keeping with other photos that we have used in corporate blurb.  I will let you know if they are what was required.  It soon becomes obvious when taking photos for someone else, how important it is to get some kind of brief from them.  For example, did she want an arty shot or a more realistic shot?  Is the blue tint acceptable?  I can take the blue off with a filter in lightroom if she wants.

I like this shot out of all of them mainly because of the shape made with the shadow, the syringe is on one third, the shadow on another and together they make a triangle.

I have also tried playing with some of the presets in Lightroom 3 to change the colour – although I think I prefer the other one, for which I used a blue LED light fitted into my bedside lamp.

I took the pictures with my macro lens because I like the sharpness that it is possible to get (although the fluff and dust also stands out as well!).  I used a tripod and put the camera on timer as the light was intentionally low and I needed to avoid camera shake.  As I was using a tripod I had the option of ISO100, and could choose any aperture that I wanted.  For this shot I was at 0.3secs at f/14.