From Don Peters/ DPA instructor in Chicago

To view more of his images please visit http://digitalphotoacademy.com/portfolio/donald-peters/

My mantra, as I teach Composition in the Field Classes for DPA, is to look for building blocks of composition —color, shape, texture, pattern, line, form….etc.   This in-studio composition of a simple array of colored pencils gave me an opportunity to explore several of these elements.  Using two, Kenko extension tubes, mounted between my tripod mounted camera and lens, I was able to focus very closely on my composition of the pencil tips to bring out the detail of the shaved wood.  Using a goose-neck desk lamp was all the illumination needed and I was able to move the lamp around to try various pleasing light angles to create shadow and best show off the texture of the pencil tips.   Because the bulb was incandescent, I adjusted the white balance setting in my camera accordingly to overcome the “yellow” cast of the bulb to make the subject’s colors appear more natural.  Finally, I arranged the pencils in tight rows pointing at one another to add an element of “tension” to the composition. (Nikon D300 on tripod with 100mm Tamron macro lens and two, Kenko extension tubes, ISO 200, 1/125, f/16, side lit with desk lamp.)