065: Russian-Style Pen Top

Today I felt that I should take a pictue of the wooden pen on my desk, as I do quite like the top of it.
A plain background didn't look like it would work, and I just happened to have an interesting patterned coin purse nearby, so that got put behind it. It seems to work quite well as the styles of both objects used are both relevant and fit together; but I keep wondering if the background might have worked better if it were blurrier. The wooden doll-top is sharp and clear, but it doesn't 'pop' out as much as it could. The similarity of colours is probably to blame as well.
But all in all, it's a worthwhile picture.

Settings: f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 29mm extension, low flash, white reflectors.

027: Plastic Orc

More an objective study than a composition, this small plastic orc stands proudly on the pink ground, his weapon glistening with the blood of his enemies... Does he like pink? Who knows. I thought it worked in an unusual way.
The figure concerned is from an old HeroQuest set that I painted [some] of the figures. Maybe I'll get round to painting some more of them. I think I'll have to buy a size 000 brush first, as I want them to turn out a little better than this one. (you can really see all the imperfections when looking this closely.) I like very much how I did the bloodstain and the drybrushed areas, but it's not all neat, especially around the gloss yellow. Better stick to matt finishes in future.
I took this at f/16 on an old Super-Takumar 50mm f/2 lens (with an 8mm extension ring) and all other settings as usual. This lens seems to give some dodgy results exposure-wise, but I like using it occasionally.
This is only one half of a picture of two similar figures, but I cropped it as I thought just the one looked better. I also removed some dust spots. I'm not very happy with the shadow, but I don't think I could have improved it much. Also the background has a nice gradation to it.