The Elements -- behind the scenes

shatch

Jeffreaux2 had a great idea to do "behind the scenes" again. If you don't mind...let's put them here. Looking forward to seeing everyone's set up and story.

KurtPreston

I should be able to do this Wed or Friday, especially since I actually have more of a story than 'I annoyed the osprey until it got ticked and came after me'

richtersl

KurtPreston wrote:

I should be able to do this Wed or Friday, especially since I actually have more of a story than 'I annoyed the osprey until it got ticked and came after me'

Did it switch to dragon mode?

KurtPreston

richtersl wrote:

Did it switch to dragon mode?

!

VelvtRide

I had been wracking my brain for a new idea from what I usually shoot - and I got especially frantic once I saw the first entry. I realized there were so many different 'elements' you could do with this theme.

When I settled on the suicide thing, I had to come up with some kind of setting - I knew what I wanted to do, but trying to get it done was another thing. I don't have a studio or lighting or anything.... I've got a Canon 10D with a 17-40 L lens and a tripod

I went out and bought 1/2 a yard of black velvet. Then I started looking around for an Arsenic bottle - little did I know how hard that would be. I finally ended up at an antique store and found a plain brown bottle. While there, my mind was going crazy as I saw all the old bits of this and that and started getting more and more ideas. Thank gawd I didn't get side tracked! It would have been so easy! I also found a candelabra made from brass that I thought I could use somehow as well as the lace doily. I had to create an arsenic label in PS - print it out and stick it to the brown bottle.

With no studio, and extremely limited lighting sources, I opted to do the shoot in my own bedroom with the late afternoon sun. I covered half the window with a blanket and shut the blinds. I opened two of them at eye level for some facial light. I hung the black velvet leaving some of the window untouched - for the light to come through.

Got my girl, made her up and put her in front of the velvet and started snapping. Tripod, and set the camera to Tungsten setting I had the shutter remain open to gather as much light as I could.

All this may sound 'normal' and 'usual' to you - but to me, this was the first time I had ever used any other setting on my camera other than the pre-set setting as that's all I have figured out because I haven't been shooting very long - this was the first time I had ever done an 'in depth' sitting.

I lit the candle and had her hold it while posing for the photo and started snapping away. 20 or 30 shots later, we came out to view them.

Can you say "ick"? Ok, back to the drawing board - went back into the room, at least, 5 more times taking as many as 300 pictures. My girl was extremely patient and didn't mind that it took almost 4 hours to do.

The worst thing that happened during the entire process, was that each time I looked at the pics and decided I needed to open the shutter longer, postition the hand different, move the candle to a different spot, fix the backdrop, open the blinds more, cover more of the window or position her head slightly, I ended up forgetting about the other items in the next series of photos. :bash

Ok, so I got the lighting right, but need to tilt her head more. Ok, heads tilted more, but now her hands are out of place. Ok, hands look good, but forgot about the doily. :twitch

All of this really taught me so much and I'm anxious to broaden my horzions - and it's terribly exciting.

Nikolai

shatch wrote:

Jeffreaux2 had a great idea to do "behind the scenes" again. If you don't mind...let's put them here. Looking forward to seeing everyone's set up and story.

Good idea, guys, will do tonight..

shatch

I entered a couple of different photos. None of which are contenders, but I did receive a couple of requests of how I did it. So I'll share.

Hooked!
This is a photo I have wanted to do for some time. There is a business park on one of the busiest roads in my town. The pond there has always invited me to come and shoot this shot! I shared the idea with my brother and he took the bait. We met there on a short notice evening with about 7 minutes of sunlight left. We raced around preparing. My nephew held a flash off camera near my brother who had just hopped into the water. The sun dropped below the horizion and we missed the "great" light. But shot anyway. On the second shot, the sprinklers came on. You'll see the water splashing in the water next to my brother in the shot. We took a total of 3 shots of this angle.



Next, we took the 17lb fish my brother caught a few years ago (mounted) and had him hold it in the water and pull it out. Liked this photo. Almost looked like he was bare handing!




I then took a photo of the Grand Tetons as I was heading into Island Park for the day. Replaced the buildings with the mountains. Pulled the other elements into the photo, such as the hand drawn fish line and also a photo of a fishing fly. A little salt and pepper and blammo! I felt I was done.



Usually if your photo is a strong contender for winning, you will receive a lot of PMs. I didn't so I knew this was a failure for the competition. So I went back to the drawing board and chalked this one up to a fun night out with the boys.

___________________________________
I threw together a few ideas, but none of them felt good enough to me. Man...you all have seen the entries!!!! Some amazing!! stuff in there!

But I finally decided to work this idea.

So Much for Homework

Took my daughter out and hung her from the swingset.



Next I took a photo of some papers she threw in the air. I think we used about 5 seperate photos to get the pages we wanted in the compisision. Here is one of the photos.





Next was the background photo which is in front of our home.


Next was adding a photo of a tree I had taken for an earlier idea for the same contest.


Brought them all together in a collage and added some hand drawn images to the papers. Added a same color as DGRIN band to the left of the photo to allow the papers to blow outside of the photo.




Another failure entry but fun memory and good exercise in assembly.

I look forward to seeing the other behind the scenes. I really enjoy the stories and set ups. I wanna see them all!!

Best wishes and good luck to all of the amazing entries!!

shatch

VelvtRide wrote:

I had been wracking my brain for a new idea from what I usually shoot - and I got especially frantic once I saw the first entry. I realized there were so many different 'elements' you could do with this theme.

When I settled on the suicide thing, I had to come up with some kind of setting - I knew what I wanted to do, but trying to get it done was another thing. I don't have a studio or lighting or anything.... I've got a Canon 10D with a 17-40 L lens and a tripod

I went out and bought 1/2 a yard of black velvet. Then I started looking around for an Arsenic bottle - little did I know how hard that would be. I finally ended up at an antique store and found a plain brown bottle. While there, my mind was going crazy as I saw all the old bits of this and that and started getting more and more ideas. Thank gawd I didn't get side tracked! It would have been so easy! I also found a candelabra made from brass that I thought I could use somehow as well as the lace doily. I had to create an arsenic label in PS - print it out and stick it to the brown bottle.

With no studio, and extremely limited lighting sources, I opted to do the shoot in my own bedroom with the late afternoon sun. I covered half the window with a blanket and shut the blinds. I opened two of them at eye level for some facial light. I hung the black velvet leaving some of the window untouched - for the light to come through.

Got my girl, made her up and put her in front of the velvet and started snapping. Tripod, and set the camera to Tungsten setting I had the shutter remain open to gather as much light as I could.

All this may sound 'normal' and 'usual' to you - but to me, this was the first time I had ever used any other setting on my camera other than the pre-set setting as that's all I have figured out because I haven't been shooting very long - this was the first time I had ever done an 'in depth' sitting.

I lit the candle and had her hold it while posing for the photo and started snapping away. 20 or 30 shots later, we came out to view them.

Can you say "ick"? Ok, back to the drawing board - went back into the room, at least, 5 more times taking as many as 300 pictures. My girl was extremely patient and didn't mind that it took almost 4 hours to do.

The worst thing that happened during the entire process, was that each time I looked at the pics and decided I needed to open the shutter longer, postition the hand different, move the candle to a different spot, fix the backdrop, open the blinds more, cover more of the window or position her head slightly, I ended up forgetting about the other items in the next series of photos. :bash

Ok, so I got the lighting right, but need to tilt her head more. Ok, heads tilted more, but now her hands are out of place. Ok, hands look good, but forgot about the doily. :twitch

All of this really taught me so much and I'm anxious to broaden my horzions - and it's terribly exciting.

Congrats on having your "breakthrough" experience. They are soooo fun to experience...albeit frustrating at times too. Way to think creatively and use what resources you have. You will find that the majority of great photos are not done with amazing equipment and set ups, but with just a thought of creative use of available elements and light. Well done!!

VelvtRide

shatch wrote:

Another failure entry but fun memory and good exercise in assembly.

I don't think so at all. I thought they were both great!

peterst6906

Shatch, I think the word failure is a little strong. Even if they don't get chosen for this mega round by the judges (a failure in that sense - which I'm sure is what you meant), then they are still very good images.

They are executed to your normal high standards and the skills may have added benefit in some future normal or mega round and give you a winning edge in another theme.

Far from failures in my book.

Regards,

Peter

Tango

not near as a dramatic story from me on my image...

get on location an hour before sunrise to a pre-selected composition.
lots of stubing my toes on rocks and that kinda sort during my short hike.

setup tripod & connect trigger, and wait.....

shoot expos for pre-sunrise, then sun star, and finally the FG.

PP: merge using Marc Muench multi-HDR merge technique, then do a highpass sharpening, then slight curves, and very little sat added.

the hardest part is the water...to make it look like water instead of a black hole i had to play with localized luminances and a hint of filtering...

post entry and pray

VelvtRide

AaronNelson wrote:

not near as a dramatic story from me on my image...

get on location an hour before sunrise to a pre-selected composition.
lots of stubing my toes on rocks and that kinda sort during my short hike.

setup tripod & connect trigger, and wait.....

shoot expos for pre-sunrise, then sun star, and finally the FG.

PP: merge using Marc Muench multi-HDR merge technique, then do a highpass sharpening, then slight curves, and very little sat added.

the hardest part is the water...to make it look like water instead of a black hole i had to play with localized luminances and a hint of filtering...

post entry and pray

One thing I did was try my damnedest to get a shot that I didn't have to manipulate in CS3.

Orignial photo:


Entry photo:


I want to learn to take good photos without having to rely on PS to make them look good - which has been a crutch for me. "Oh, it's gonna look like crap cuz I don't have the right light or can't figure out the right setting on the camera to use - oh well - I can just PS it."

I can't tell you what a learning experience this has been for me. I dug out the manual to my camera, did some searching on the internet about this feature, that feature and everything I could about my camera. In the end, I was really jazzed because I only bumped up the lighting because I felt it looked better - but didn't need to do anything else!

Please don't get me wrong, here - the images that have PP look amazing and I will continue to use it - just for me, this contest *made* me try to take the *right* photo with the *right* settings - something I was not doing before.

shatch

AaronNelson wrote:

not near as a dramatic story from me on my image...

get on location an hour before sunrise to a pre-selected composition.
lots of stubing my toes on rocks and that kinda sort during my short hike.

setup tripod & connect trigger, and wait.....

shoot expos for pre-sunrise, then sun star, and finally the FG.

PP: merge using Marc Muench multi-HDR merge technique, then do a highpass sharpening, then slight curves, and very little sat added.

the hardest part is the water...to make it look like water instead of a black hole i had to play with localized luminances and a hint of filtering...

post entry and pray

And the result...an amazing landscape photo! Thanks for sharing.

shatch

Thanks Peter and Vevtride for the clarification of understanding. You have reminded me well that the journey is a victory and needs to be appreciated and enjoyed while on our way to our desired destination.

VelvtRide

shatch wrote:

And the result...an amazing landscape photo! Thanks for sharing.

I totally agree!

Llywellyn

This round marked a lot of “firsts” for me, especially with regard to my second idea. The biggest thing I tackled was a multi-light setup. After spending a few days just reading about how to photograph ice, I realized my one AB strobe just wouldn’t be enough, so I broke down and finally bought an SB-800 flash unit (something I’ve been putting off for more than a year). I then spent many days reading Strobist.

I created the heartsicles with chocolate and cupcake molds and lollipop sticks to make two different ice hearts—one that could be held from behind and one that could be held from below--then jury-rigged a device that would hold the heartsicle while I lit it on fire. I ended up using some copper plumbing thing (I couldn’t tell you what it was) with a length of thin, stiff pipe to stiffen the copper, all wrapped in electrical tape with a small clamp secured on the end…with more electrical tape. This was clamped to a light stand.

I originally wanted to capture everything with one photo, but after more thinking I realized this just wasn’t possible. First, the fire and water droplet varied too much in the required shutter speeds. So I needed two shots—okay. Second, I wanted to light the ice from the side and below, but I didn’t want to risk lighting a fire directly over my strobe. So two shots turned into three.

For the water droplet, I held the flash in one hand, turkey baster in the other, remote in my mouth and shot away, dropping the water on a piece of glass from a picture frame suspended over my flash. Heartsicle was lit from the side and below. Fire was lit from the side only.

This is actually an accidental frame. I was so nervous and tense about the gust of flame I was expecting, I accidentally pressed my remote shutter release when I flinched. The flame is from the match I was holding behind the ice.


But I couldn’t get the ice to light! I eventually placed a bowl of paint thinner underneath my ice heart to try to engulf the heart. This worked—a little too well. Apparently you can char ice.


Also, pouring water over a bowl of burning paint thinner causes the bowl to overflow with a river of fire. Recovering from this requires dumping an entire bucket of water quickly over the river before it flows too far…

In LR I created two versions of the heartsicle—one with a Tungsten WB and another with Shade, I believe, to get the cold and warm parts. Blended those in PS then added the flames and water droplet. C'est finis.

Halite

shatch wrote:

Thanks Peter and Vevtride for the clarification of understanding. You have reminded me well that the journey is a victory and needs to be appreciated and enjoyed while on our way to our desired destination.

I have most definitely appreciated seeing the results of your journey and look forward to seeing more.

VelvtRide

Geeez, Kerry! I think I would have liked to have been there during your shoot.

A lot of Ack!, Oooops!, sh*t!, OMG! and hurryhurryhurry!

richtersl

Llywellyn wrote:

Apparently you can char ice.

Oh dear Lord....

davev

Mine wasn't to tough, I took maybe 150 shots, moving the flash around to try to reduce the glare and show the grains of sand falling.
I then had to black out some of the glare, straighten the horizon, some highlight/shadow adjustment, some free transforming to
get the bars parallel, and a few other fine adjustments.

I tried shooting this is a few different ways and different spots.
The shots outside were really bad. Too many refections that I could not tone down.
I tried placing it on an old stump, but the grains of sand just blended into the wood grain.
I tried different exposure times. As the exposure got longer, the sand again lost the look of, well, sand.

Anyway, here's the original.



and the one that is entered.

shatch

Llywellyn wrote:

This round marked a lot of “firsts” for me, especially with regard to my second idea...

Not only did you produce a fantastic photo, but what a greatly entertaining story. You made me laugh. Thanks!!

Congrats on pushing yourself to a new level and congrats on the sb800. Do you love it?

shatch

Halite wrote:

I have most definitely appreciated seeing the results of your journey and look forward to seeing more.

Thanks Halite! It is nice to know that someone else likes my images other than my kids. We all tend to be over critical of our work, or blind to the details, or both! Thanks for the kind words.

System

Do you suspect that your neighbors may have a video on it's way to AFV?

BTW I truly like your thought on this one, Well done!

Llywellyn wrote:

Also, pouring water over a bowl of burning paint thinner causes the bowl to overflow with a river of fire. Recovering from this requires dumping an entire bucket of water quickly over the river before it flows too far…

richtersl

VelvtRide wrote:

A lot of Ack!, Oooops!, sh*t!, OMG! and hurryhurryhurry!

I had a bit of that as well, including: :help :bluduh :crazy :patch :bash :hack :hang

After my first attempts didn't quite work out, I decided to head to the river at around sunset. After much :bash, I decided to pack it in and head back home. I stopped once more by the riverbank and I spotted a duck admiring his reflection in the water and snapped a few pics. As my luck would have it, the swans were behind me and wanted nothing to do with that duck. :bluduh Or me. :patch

Still not happy, I headed over to a nearby creek the following morning and toted my tripod along. After nearly falling on my butt , I found a spot to set up shop and then waited for the sun to get a little higher. Snapped a few more pics. This time I was a bit happier with the outcome but was not sure if any were strong enough for the theme.

I decided to solicit another set of opinions and posted a thread with a few more shots. :help Worked a little more on the duck shot and then decided to throw it in as an afterthought.



There wasn't much to do post-processing-wise: just clean up some dust bunnies, do some noise reduction, apply a peach-toned gradient filter to it, minor curves adjustment, and a saturation adjustment. I still didn't care for the water texture, so I applied a PS Action that softened the waves a little.

:hangThe duck seemed to have spoken the theme more strongly than the other shots.



Consensus seemed to be that the photo could use a crop. And after reviewing it again and again (and again and again) and then playing with it again and again (and again and again) :crazy. It did look better cropped. Then it was a matter of figuring out WHICH crop. :hack





I finally settled on the pano and submitted it.



But in spite of the frustration, I had fun with this!

shatch

davev wrote:

Mine wasn't to tough, I took maybe 150 shots, moving the flash around to try to reduce the glare and show the grains of sand falling.
I then had to black out some of the glare, straighten the horizon, some highlight/shadow adjustment, some free transforming to
get the bars parallel, and a few other fine adjustments.

I tried shooting this is a few different ways and different spots.
The shots outside were really bad. Too many refections that I could not tone down.
I tried placing it on an old stump, but the grains of sand just blended into the wood grain.
I tried different exposure times. As the exposure got longer, the sand again lost the look of, well, sand.

Great conversion Dave. I like what you did with it. Amazing how much time and effort we can put into a "simple" photo. Well done!

shatch

richtersl wrote:

I had a bit of that as well, including: :help :bluduh :crazy :patch :bash :hack :hang

After my first attempts didn't quite work out, I decided to head to the river at around sunset. After much :bash, I decided to pack it in and head back home. I stopped once more by the riverbank and I spotted a duck admiring his reflection in the water and snapped a few pics. As my luck would have it, the swans were behind me and wanted nothing to do with that duck. :bluduh Or me. :patch

Still not happy, I headed over to a nearby creek the following morning and toted my tripod along. After nearly falling on my butt , I found a spot to set up shop and then waited for the sun to get a little higher. Snapped a few more pics. This time I was a bit happier with the outcome but was not sure if any were strong enough for the theme.

I decided to solicit another set of opinions and posted a thread with a few more shots. :help Worked a little more on the duck shot and then decided to throw it in as an afterthought.

Great story Richters! I'm glad you shared it with us. I do like the photo too!

VelvtRide

It's 5:30.... and I don't have any nails left to chew. Can I borrow yours, shatch?

richtersl

VelvtRide wrote:

It's 5:30.... and I don't have any nails left to chew. Can I borrow yours, shatch?

You can't have mine because I don't have any left, either!

VelvtRide

richtersl wrote:

You can't have mine because I don't have any left, either!

I've chewed all the pens in the house, too. :uhoh

shatch

VelvtRide wrote:

It's 5:30.... and I don't have any nails left to chew. Can I borrow yours, shatch?

Sorry, you wouldn't like mine. They are filled with dirt from pulling weeds on Saturday.

With the pens gone too, you should next move to carrotts! They are good for you too. Maybe celery would be good as you can chew on it forever and it never goes away. Hey! don't they sell fake nails? That might work! Give that a try.

Or you can convince yourself like I have that I don't have a chance so why bother worrying?

VelvtRide

shatch wrote:

Sorry, you wouldn't like mine. They are filled with dirt from pulling weeds on Saturday.

With the pens gone too, you should next move to carrotts! They are good for you too. Maybe celery would be good as you can chew on it forever and it never goes away. Hey! don't they sell fake nails? That might work! Give that a try.

Or you can convince yourself like I have that I don't have a chance so why bother worrying?

I'm just excited to see who DID win.


Carrots... yum!