Masterclass Assignment #2 - Still Life

The assignment from Chapter 2 of Tom Ang's Masterclass is "Still Life".  The purpose of this assignment is to create still life images using various camera settings and lighting to achieve different results.  I used my Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 and a simple tin clamp light for all of this assignment.  My inspiration for this shoot came to me while I was waiting for water to boil.  All of the photos chosen are pretty mundane, but I think they provide great examples that meet the goal of the assignment.  Photo #1 is a pile of white tea leaves taken at f/4.5.  I used side lighting (~90 degree) to create strong contrast across the gradient of light.  The same 90 degree side lighting was used in #2-#5 however, I chose to bounce the light source off of  the white wall of my kitchen in the direction of the subject  to soften the light.  Photo # 2 illustrates a contrast in sharpness created by using a shallow DOF - aperture used was f/3.5.  Photo #3 and #4 are essentially the same except for DOF - f/2 versus f/16.  Although #4 seems to have more sharp detail, the shallow depth of field in #3 really draws the viewer attention towards the main detail - the dragon head.  The final photo, #5, shows the level of sharpness and depth that can be created using a "real-world" small aperture of (f/8).  I know this assignment wasn't quite as interesting as Chapter 1 however, I promise to step it up a notch for Chapter 3 -  hopefully the weather will hold up this weekend and allow me to venture outdoors for a change.
Note: Full size versions of all photos posted to 30West can be viewed on my Flickr page.  Click the Flickr banner below to access my photos.