Shavings

The subject of this image is a poplar shaving. It was taken on a work bench that had yet to be cleaned up. I collected some carvings from the floor and took a few photos of them on a tan board but I didn't like the color combination. I decided to move them to a work bench and didn't think about cleaning it off. I placed them next to a spade drill bit because I liked the juxtaposition of the light and dark. I was hanging around a work shop while other people were making knives, I wanted to take some pictures of something with a cool texture. I chose to use the drill bit as a leading line because I thought it would bring some structure to an image that would otherwise be without structure. Leaving the small chunks of plastic on the right was completely unintentional. I used leading lines and rule of thirds as well as birds eye view and selective focus. I wasn't really planning anything when I took this photo. I knew that I liked the structure in wood shavings so I thought I would take some photos of that. This project relates to my life because I used to be very into wood working and recently have reintroduced myself into it. I think this image would have been stronger if I had used a tripod and was able to make the texture sharper.