Submitter's name:	John A. Lind
Title:	Hyperfocused Obsession
Gear used:	OM-1n + 85mm f/2 Zuiko MC + two Novatron M120S monolights + silver reflector umbrellas + light stands
Diaphragm:	f/5.6
Shutter speed:	1/60th
Film used:	Ilford Pan F @ EI 50
Technical information:	Lights mounted 45 degrees left and right, and elevated 45 degrees to subject. Key light on left; fill on right; 4:1 ratio. Exposure set using an incident flash meter aimed at camera. Backdrop is a large panel of deep black polar fleece draped over back of projection screen down almost to floor and up over the top of a small table. Subject is elevated slightly by placing a frisbee under the polar fleece and setting it on top of it. To keep background as deep black as possible, screen was placed about one meter behind the table.
Subject information:	Exactly what it appears to be!
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Comments:

Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

I like the way the cup seems to float. It was nicely separated from the background.

Comment left by: Joel Wilcox (jowilcox@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu)

Very nice! Can see the yesture in the enamel of the cup. Perfectly held highlights. What would you think about cropping a little off the bottom to pull the mug a little off-center? Anyway, nicely executed.

Comment left by: Wayne Harridge (no e-mail specified)

Best "mug shot" I've seen in a while !

Comment left by: Marc Lawrence (no e-mail specified)

Do you have your coffee black or white? Apart from the technical proficiency, an amusing little visual pun is thrown in too. It made me giggle and snort (and white-with-two coffee came out my nose).

Comment left by: Anonymous Visitor

Black! I do not contaminate java with anything, including too much water. The theme of B&W made this seem most appropriate: a white mug on pure black background. More seriously: it is an experiment with lighting to bring out the very smooth porcelain finish. Got some of it on the fill side but was hoping for a little more across the front toward the key light side. Perhaps moving the key light farther around for more of a raking lighting angle would do that and I will experiment more with its placement in another series. The idea was inspired by some of Edward Weston's still lifes, although the ones I've seen of his work were made against a high key background. This one would also work if less of the top and more of the bottom were cropped to "ground" the mug some . . . although I deliberately centered it to give it an appearance of being suspended in mid-space . . . and cropped it to a 5:4 aspect ratio. It's a matter of taste and intention.

Comment left by: Tris Schuler (tristanjohn@mindspring.com)

I'm out of my element here practically speaking, but the challenge of the problem makes me speak. There's a good reference for lighting set-ups for B&W work (Pro Lighting BLACK AND WHITE SHOTS, ISBN: 2-88046-462-5) by Alex Larg and Jane Wood. I saw it a few years ago and picked it up out of curiosity more than anything--I don't own a "light" as such, not even a drop cloth. Anyway, with this particular subject in mind, and given your goal regarding the subject's surface features, I'd guess a better approach would be to forget about a key altogehter and use either fill on one side and a soft box on the other, or go with two soft boxes--or even just a fill, with a reflector opposite it on the other side of the cup, then folol around with distance. (Substitue "light panel" for the soft box, if you will.) The book I mention gives a great example of this technique (using a human subject), plus similar approaches to basically the same lighting problem, though not always with the same goal in mind. Lots of ideas there, John. As for your result: I like it, mainly; however, as you say the key light does pretty much overpower the subtle texture and sheen on the left side of the cup. Did you need to work on the near-foreground black cloth any in software? I see no hint of it. If not, you judged the light perfectly then in that regard. All in all, quite typically good work from you.

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